THE WORD

There is one word in the English vocabulary that is as mysterious as faith, as tangible and yet fleeting as a shiver, as essential as oxygen to a person’s existence, and as indeterminate as the future.

It is when a young man, who did not express his desires succinctly and always let chance and fate dictate his own life, gets drifted off to a faraway land, gets stripped off his dreams and realities. In exchange he gets a reality that is so strange to him, it is almost violent. It grates at his skin. It bites his flesh. It tears at him everyday. This. His new life. His condition. In less than a month, he buys a ticket to go back home. He is called a quitter by everyone else, a lost cause.



It is when another, who did not allow his desires to take the better of him and always let his ideals dictate his own life, is given a heart to look after and his own heart to surrender. His reality became everyone’s dreams. It fills him with joy. It fills him with pleasure. It fills him with love. This. His very being, he gives up. In a matter of weeks, he breaks all binds and sets himself free and vulnerable. Where there was safety and love, he now risks pain and loneliness. He is called a fool by everyone else, a lost soul.



It is when one, who did not desire so completely and always let other people’s realities dictate his own life, gets drifted to a place he so longed to discover, gets stripped of old fears and doubts and in their place, new fears and new doubts. Every step he takes now may bring him closer to a dream long-nurtured and kept hidden or may cause him to shut himself off and retreat back into quiet non-being. It is one kiss, one hug, one resounding yes. He is called a newbie by everyone else, one with a lot to lose. Or a lot to gain.


The word is Choice.


Who gets to decide if one is a quitter or a fool? We look life in its face and we look away, each taking something for ourselves, each leaving something behind.

What matters most is who we make of ourselves in the end. The good we have in us, the good we do, and the good we can still achieve.