The Interplay Between Time And Opportunity In Creating A Meaningful Life Essay Sample

Having a meaningful life is something that people have been aiming to do in their lifetime. Everyone wants to bring a meaning in his/ her life. When we refer to meaning, it often talks about the future, or maybe linking the part with the present and the future. Individuals care so much about meaning. This may be attributed to the idea that they want their happiness to last. Happiness is something that is present and fleeting. On the other hand, when someone puts meaning in his life, it extends to the future and seems more stable. Because of this, people seem to pursue a meaningful life so they would stay happy as long as possible. So how does one create a meaningful life?
Khaled Hosseini, the writer of the Kite Runner talks about time and opportunity and how they interplay in one’s attempt to create a meaningful life. In the beginning of the novel, one character in the story, Amid, who is a timid adolescent boy witnesses his friend, Hassan get abused and raped by Assef. However, despite witnessing this and all, he does not intervene. Because of this, he has a big sense of guilt. He made Hassan leave his home and so Amir moves to America together with his father. As time goes on, Amir suppresses his guilty feelings. While he lives in America, he becomes a successful writer and lives a comfortable life in California. However, because of his guilt, Amir continues to live in his past. He continuously reminds himself of what he did in the past. One day, Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him there is chance to be good again. Amir goes to Pakistan where Rahim shows him Hassan’s son, Sohrab. When Amir heard of Sohrab’s story, he feels like he has a chance to redeem himself again. So he went back to Kabul and was able to save Sohrab from the latter’s abusive life.
After twenty five years since Amir did not intervene from the rape incident of his bestfriend Hassan, he finally got a chance to redeem himself. He found an opportunity in Sohrab. And thus, he finally found meaning in his life again. In this part of the novel, Hosseini shows how opportunity knocks at our doors when we least expect it. Opportunity, together with the perfect time, can give someone so much meaning in his life. When opportunity comes, if someone is willing to grab it, it is never too late to do so. In the case of Amir, even if it took him a quarter of his life to redeem himself, he was still able to do so and he finally atones for the mistakes he did in the past by saving Sohrab. For Amir, without that opportunity, the past is always a part of him. As mentioned in the first sentence of the novel, the he is what he is today since he was twelve. This is because he defined himself because of his past. However, he did not stop there. His feelings of guilt for what he did in the past, motivate him. When Hassan was raped, this became the source of guilt of Amir. This motivates him to redeem himself. Then opportunity comes and so Amir grabbed that chance. He had a choice not to go back to his past life, but he did because this is the chance he’s been waiting all his life. Besides, it is the perfect time for him. He already accomplished being a good writer, he has a good and comfortable life. All he needs is to create a meaning in his life. He wants so much more than just to exist. He wants to redeem himself. He desires to live.
Opportunity, time and our connection with other people are very important in searching for meaning in our lives. Meaningfulness comes from what we contribute to other people. So people need to look for opportunities where they could contribute something to someone. Because by doing this, they would be able to create meaning and purpose to one’s life. We see the meaning in our lives when we evaluate how much time we spent in helping others and if we are able to contribute something to them. People must take advantage of as many opportunities as possible. Grabbing even just one opportunity can bring a big difference in one’s life. The unfortunate fact is opportunity and time do not last forever. We don’t have the rest of our lives to wait and look for opportunity. So we must take advantage of opportunities that come our way by simply saying yes when they come our way. Great opportunities come to everyone at different times. We just have to know how to grab them and make use of them at the perfect time to create a meaningful life.