When you graduate high school and planning to go to college, would you say, 'I am planning to do college' or 'I am planning to hang out with friends for the next 4 years'? (Well, in some cases college might just be about that!!). It might be true that college life consists of hanging out with friends but that is not all college life is about. College has both good and bad aspects - low on money, high on stress, learning new things, meeting new people so on and so forth. Saying 'I am planning to hang out with friends for the next 4 years' is not untrue but inadequate and misleading because it does not encompass everything that goes in a college life. At most it might be representing 10% of college life. Continuing on, when you graduate college and planning to start work, would you say, 'I am planning to start working at a firm' or 'I am planning to earn money and spend it every month'? It might be true that working leads to earning money which in turn leads to spending it, but that is not all work life is about. Work has both good and bad aspects - financial freedom, career development, sucking up to boss, boredom, so on and so forth. Saying 'I am planning to earn money and spend it every month' is not untrue but inadequate and misleading because it does not encompass everything that goes in work life. I do not want to put a number but earning and spending is a fraction of work life. The overall point I want to make with these two examples is, if we focus on what is convenient to us and paint a picture, we are misleading everyone including ourselves.
But why do we do this mistake so often when it comes to giving birth to a human being? Are we giving birth to a child or bringing a new human being into existence? Of course, the way to bring a human being into existence is by giving birth to a child but that is not the end of it. If at all, it is just the beginning of it. The childhood phase is at most 10% of a human being's lifespan. A human's life has both good and bad aspects - childhood, love, friendships, achievements, adventure, diseases, mental illness, addictions, so on and so forth. Why the focus is on the unblemished, cute, lovely 10% of life and not the possible troubles associated with the rest of the life? I am not saying an adult life is always filled with troubles. But a child's life is surely not an accurate representation of an entire human being's life. So, when people give birth to a child, they are NOT JUST giving birth to a child. They are bringing a human being in its entirety to existence. And a human being is not just the unblemished cute, lovely face of a child. If at all, it is quite the opposite!!
