Reflection on Life #1

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it...nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward...”
-Rocky Balboa

Yes, I've come to quoting movie lines now. But few among us are strangers to the fact that the world is cold, cruel. It takes all of one's will and determination to constantly get back up when life puts us down. Very often we look back at life and all we see are mistakes, faults, things we could have done better, people we could have treated better. But the past is not the place to live. The Now is where we must be. Tomorrow is what we must live for.

The strength to face each day comes from within. Not from telling people how we feel, because, let's face it, we all know how that ends. Instead, it comes from acceptance. Accept the fact that what has happened, has happened. There's no changing it, no going back. We must accept our past as it is, squeeze the life out of it. Keep your innermost feelings and thoughts to yourself, and believe me, you'll be much better off.

Some people confuse this with withdrawal, hiding from the world. When, in reality, we are using this time, to lay the foundation for things to come. It is on this foundation of past mistakes and errors that we build the tower of our future. Lay your foundation well, and you ca be assured that your future will be what you make of it, what you want it to be.

Beautiful Nightmare

It was a chilly winter's day, just minutes before dawn. The gauge on the dashboard showed that the temperature was in the low two-digits. Outside, the cold, barren desert stretched out to every visible horizon and a thick fog rolled in from one side. As he glanced into the side mirror to check for traffic, something in the passenger seat caught his attention. It was her, and it never ceased to amaze him how, every time, something new about her came to his attention. Even after several years together, she was still a mystery to him. One that unfolded itself in the smallest and most seemingly unnoticeable ways.

This time, it wasn't one particular thing about her; it was the whole of her. Even though it was chilly outside, the air conditioning was on, because she liked it that way. Be it sunshine or rain, she loved feeling the cold air on her face. Although his eyes were on the road ahead she was in his sight.He watched the way the air played with her hair, swinging it from side to side across her face,the way her face seemed so radiant, accentuated by the innumerable streetlights that lit their way. That gentle, calm smile, one that comes from the trust and assurance that he would let no harm come her way. She knew her past troubles were behind her, that she was no longer alone, that they would face everything together.

His eyes shot open, and he looked around. She had disappeared. He realized he had been dreaming, that he was seeing things as he hoped they would be. Every night he dreamt of her, of them. And this he knew, was just one of many. Another beautiful nightmare.

Time flies

1 year,
52 weeks,
365 days,
8,760 hours,
525,000 minutes,

31,536,000 seconds,

People come and people go. Some stay, some don't. But one thing is certain, they leave their mark. They all give you memories, good ones and bad. The ones that leave, teach you life lessons. The ones that stay, do so to live memories with you. Either way, at the end of each day, all you're left with, are those memories.

She's one of them. The kind that leaves a lasting impression on you, make you want to live up to their expectations. She knew what you could do, saw what you never could. Made you want to be a better person, to face and overcome challenges together, to be her man.

Just over a year ago, we met, through the strangest of circumstances. Never expected it to happen this way. Through little conversations that lasted but a few minutes, we got to knowing each other. Soon, it was like we'd known each other all along.

Truly beautiful, calm and confident, with an intellect that matched, she never let the world see what she truly felt. Through a lifetime's worth of lessons learnt, she knew that it was foolish to trust blindly. Innocent as a child, yes, but with rivals like those she had, trust was something she could never give out freely.

There was a fire inside her. A slow, gentle fire, kindled by her passion to live, to laugh, to enjoy life. After we met, she said I was now, fuel to that fire. Now, though a storm rages incessantly around us, we know, the fire will never go out. That little fire, had grown, so much so, that it now resides in me too.

Though the dark storm keeps us apart, somehow I know, she's to stay. She's a keeper, my friends have said and without her, I'd be as good as dead.

A year is gone, without a word.
Several more, are yet to go.
But, here I wait, impatiently patient,
because,

Yes, true to its word,
Time flies.