That day when I was checking my emails, I had an epiphany. I realised that my mailbox is so much like my life. When I say it’s like my life, I don’t mean the general stuff like you can know about a person by looking at their emails. What I mean to say here is something much deeper.
I realise that on a regular day my mailbox reminds me of the mundane things of life. Things like paying my bills, setting up my emails, my to do list and much more. It also helps me with important stuff like informing me when my bank account gets debited, schedules my business meetings and much more. So, I can say it does pretty much everything.
In a way it complements my life. But when I look at it profoundly, I realise that it’s not just about what I see at the surface. But my mailbox is actually a metaphor for life. Let me tell you why I feel so.
Everything looks good at the surface, just like life
Somehow, everything looks so good at the surface. It segregates the mails as primary, spam and promotions. When it tells me, “This message is a potential spam,” it is a spam.
Based on my past correspondence, it also marks a certain client’s emails as “important.” I wonder how does the mailbox know that she is the client who has been consistent with timely payments. You can see, like life it looks perfect at the surface. Everything is in control. Something I can even boast about on Instagram.
It creates confusion, just like life
At times it creates confusion. Just when everything looks neat, an important email lands up in my spam folder. For no apparent reason it is unable to segregate such a basic thing. And what makes it worse is that I trust my email provider so much that I don’t even look for the email in the spam folder.
And yes, the opposite also happens, Sammy995 who wants to send me a million dollars, lands in my primary inbox. Off course a million dollars are important but I also know Sammy in America will not like to send me so much of money. You see it misses such a basic thing. But then, it happens in life too. Everything is fine and one fine day with just a trivial thing, we get disturbed. We miss an important thing just because we never cared to look for it in another place.
The choices I have to make, just like life
The choice that we all have to make even if the email lands up in a different category. “The choice to delete it or give into that million-dollar dream.”
So, then comes the time when I have to make the decision, no matter where the email lands. I need to trust myself. As only I know what’s spam and what’s not, better than any algorithms. In a way like we always know better for ourselves, than the free advice we get from all directions. Isn’t it so much like the voices which try to push us to do a certain thing? The things we know are not right for us. Isn’t all this so similar.
And one more thing that is so similar for my mailbox and life is when it tells me. “You don’t have enough space left, delete the clutter or pay for it.”
Yes, it warns me about the things which I choose to fill my space with. If I don’t choose to delete the clutter, I may have to pay for it later.
What do you think, is it like life or I am just overthinking? Do let me know in the comments.
Declutter holds true about real life and emails gives us such a timely reminder. I have old emails that I don’t wanna let go pretty much like our past, good or bad. But, shouldn’t we all let go welcome the bright, new. Very well reflected. When I saw the image on top, got slightly confused whether it’s my email telling me that and whether it’s linked to your blog. Haha!
he he
The overflowing email is same for everyone 🙂
Thank you for your time
Wow, this is some serious food for thought. Loved the analogy of life and a mailbox. I could never think of this!
Thanks for your reading it Atul 🙂
I am actually sold! Such accurate comparisons. My life is just like that, mailboxes and open tabs.
Thank you for reading 🙂
What is life if not a lot of incoming emails and open tabs 😀