One Life To Bear It All

John Wayne once wrote – “Life is hard; it’s harder if you’re stupid.”

True, isn’t it? To every person who refrains from trying one more time, life does seem hard. But in reality, isn’t life like an open-book test? One just has to concentrate all his energy at that one point and find all the answers that are already there right in front of us. It’s funny how we already are aware of all the terrible things that can possibly happen to us in case our stars decide to teach us a lesson. These crests and troughs are common to all and those questions keep repeating.

What is it that everybody runs away from? – Failure.

But isn’t failure supposed to be a part of our learning process, which practically is the whole point of our existence? They say the inability to accept failure is a form of insanity. It's probably true. But sometimes… it's the only way to stay alive. Or, one can embrace it like an old friend and start over.

What is the reason for disappointment? – Expectations.

Whoever said “Do not expect and you’ll never be disappointed” was definitely drunk or was probably sleep-talking. From those extra two marks for the neat labeled diagram that you drew for your science exam, to a heartwarming text message from a close friend that you haven’t heard from in a long time, one is constantly expecting something or the other. And no matter how big or small the expectation, unfulfillment of it always leads to chagrin and disappointment, in that order.

What is it that always leaves us hurt? – Love.

Yes. As bad as it sounds, love really is a bitch! Maybe we get hurt because we give too much importance to too less important people. It is impossible for one to not have had experienced the burns of perfidy or the bittersweet sorrow of parting from a loved one, at least once, in his lifetime. But then hey! Who said that life was going to be a bed of roses?

Finally, what is it that everybody fears? – Loss

Loss is an inevitable truth of life. It sticks to you like a leech, mostly when you’re already running out of blood. People set their own priorities. One might have sleepless nights because of their money that failed to double in the share market, while one might forget to live altogether because of the death of a loved one. It’s not unknown to anybody that everything has a 50% chance of going completely wrong. But should that stop us from hoping for that other 50%?

Long story short, one is almost, always aware of the fact that there is going to be a twist in the story that will shatter all our dreams and expectations. But then again, if the rope didn’t have any knots, what would we hang onto?

So what do we do? Honestly, do nothing. Just expect the expected at an unexpected time. Maybe failure, disappointment, hurt and loss are not actually the hurdles. Maybe they’re the speed-breakers that keep cautioning us to slow down from time-to-time. After all, what is life without a little pain? We’re all masochists, believe me.

So maybe Wayne Bhai is right. Life is harder if you’re stupid. But if you’re smart enough to look past it, life’s just incredibly surprising. It is only as easy and unexpected as a paper cut!