The Cicada's 7 Years and 7 Days

The Cicada's 7 Years and 7 Days

 

Listening to the cicadas chirping outside the window, a sobering thought suddenly hit me: a cicada spends a full 7 years underground, sipping sap from tree roots and enduring the darkness. But once it crawls out of the soil and becomes an adult, it only lives for 7 days.

 

Seven years of waiting in total darkness, all for just 7 days of singing under the sun. Some people call it foolish—spending so long just to live such a short life. But the cicada isn't in a hurry. It pushes itself to the limit when breaking through the soil, and sings at the top of its lungs when it's above ground. It never stops to wonder if "it's worth it."

 

Thinking about us humans, aren't we a lot like cicadas? We spend over a decade studying hard in school, then squeeze through morning and evening commutes for work—endless overtime, endless worries. We spend our lives "taking root" and "proving ourselves," but how many days do we actually get to stop, look at the sun, and listen to the wind?

 

We always say "wait for later": wait until we earn enough money, wait until the kids grow up, wait until we retire. But who knows if "later" will slip away as quickly as the cicada's 7 days? Even a cicada knows to live to the fullest in its limited time—so why do we waste our days stuck in "waiting"?

 

All living beings are just enduring their own "7 years" and living their own "7 days." Hearing the cicadas sing today made me realize something: stop waiting for "later." The wind right now, the sunlight right now, the moments when you can catch your breath right now—these are the real things that matter.