The Women We Failed – A Poem

A girl sitting in a dark corner,

she was trying to realise her dreams,

with the society burying her under expectations,

since the time she learned how to breathe.

Her head bows down in sorrow,

for in herself she doesn’t believe,

her heart has been crumbled to pieces,

for its drained of love and filled with insecurities.

There hasn’t been a day in life,

that she’s felt good enough,

the monsters of her failed past,

have been haunting her ailing heart.

So she cries herself to sleep every night,

and wakes up each morning with a smile,

with the stains of tears on her pillow case,

she rises only so that she could try again.

Try again to fit in to the so – called life,

to be considered beautiful and a delight,

to live up to society’s image,

to demolish every inch of what she truly is from within.

She’s turning into an emotional wreck,

hiding behind the perfectly done eyes,

struggling to keep herself maintained,

failing to fulfil the desires her soul contains.

Congratulations to us as a society,

for there’s yet another woman we failed,

she who could have done so much more,

but was restricted by the mind games we played.

But that time will soon befall,

the new little girls will stand strong and tall,

building images of themselves above us and beyond,

breaking any stereotype set for her at all.

And that is when our women will be liberated,

from the shackles of the chains our society created,

no work, body size or color will matter,

and no dreams will be too big or shattered.

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Giving Up

The kind of life we’re living, at this very moment is a result of innumerable decisions. Some which we took willingly, some which were forced upon us, and some which happened with the course of time. In life, there are a number of things which are beyond our control. And no matter how much we wish or try, we can’t outrun or outdo them. But, there is a power, which can be vastly affected by factors and still stay yours, and only yours, and under your control, and that is your will power.

Your will power is nothing but your ability to hold on long enough to achieve something you want, no matter how situations and people may try to break you. It’s about staying strong despite loosing hope in times of despair, because you’re driven towards attaining your goal. We as humans, are of two types. One, those who give up way too fast, and the other, those who absolutely despise quitting. And there are also those who are a mix of these people, who act either way, as a response to the demand of time and situations.

They say what makes a person successful is not about how easily they attained their goals, it’s about how many times they rose up after being thrown down by everything around and walked again. The entire concept of giving up or not, is centred around the idea of trying. Because failure is not caused due to a lack of potential or abilities, but by the lack of efforts in trying again and again. And your willingness to try continuously is a result of the driving force within you, which could be positive or negative, or it could either be passion, anger, hate, need, pressure or a life changing event.

But the question that arises is, does that make the one who gives up weaker and the one who holds on always stronger? The answer is an absolute no. Because giving up is not easy either. To let go off your hard work for the part of journey you’ve covered, can leave you absolutely disappointed and full of remorse. To know you wouldn’t ever be able to feel how the grass is greener on the other side, and to be left with a feeling of ‘what ifs’ and ‘buts’. To imagine how what all you missed out on what could have been some of the best moments of your life. Because giving up on the outside may seem easier, but at times it could be brave, selfless and the better decision.

They say winners can’t be quitters, but did someone ask the one who quits, if this was really the game they wanted to win at?

In the Name of Love…

They often say in life, everyone has a relation or relations, in which they’re absolutely and completely blind in love. Or if not love, then by the need or want of it. You’re so habitual to someone, that you overpower such lengths and extends, or indulge into such deeds, that you keep on loosing yourself day by day in the process. Because keeping that relation becomes so important, that you end up associating your entire existence and purpose in life with it.

There are innumerable things which we’ve done, continue doing or are willing to do in the name of that love. And sometimes, even in the name of hope or faith. Because pleasing that someone becomes so absolutely necessary, that we’re ready to bow down in front of them for anything and everything, and always end up turning a deaf ear to their every shortcoming and misdeed. Because the essence of love that you feel towards that person is just so strong, that you are even ready to go of your morals and values without any regrets.

And as a result, slowly and steadily, you begin losing your decisiveness. You can’t differentiate between right and wrong, and even if at times if you can, you end up ignoring your inner voice. You can’t stand hearing anything against them, and every person trying to direct you to the right path becomes a cold-blooded enemy. You begin distancing yourself from people around, just to keep that one person close to your heart. And all these sacrifices, in the fear of loosing that one person you regard as the centre of your universe and life.

We as humans are often afraid of the fact that there is this one relation we can’t do without. That if it’s ever lost, we’d never be able to get over it or overcome the sadness and voids it’ll leave. But what we do not realise is that life comes with no guarantees except one, that it keeps moving on. What mattered so much today, may be absolutely insignificant tomorrow, and the one who meant everything today,may just be a faded memory tomorrow. Because nothing is too superior to put before yourself and you are the only constant, who is going to be there through everything.

We’re emotionally so vulnerable that we tend to underestimate ourselves and forget the fact that a relation is made of two and not one. But there is nothing we cannot outdo and move on from once we have the will to. Your strength lies in your abilities, and nothing is worth having cross the line of your own self-respect. You are your own hero, and you will be your own saviour too.

The Blame Game

There are often those tough times in life, when everything seems turning upside down, demanding a decision and throwing you with a challenge of making a choice – of choosing the wrong path or the right, of choosing the easy way out or struggling, of giving into emotion or being practical, or of choosing to believe or let go. These are the times, when your mind and heart are at a constant battle, with one trying to overpower the other. You are left in a state of constant dilemma, trying to desperately evaluate your options.

Often in this war, what we choose is a result of the situation and our emotional state at that moment. There are those who panic and take irrational decisions just to get it over with, and then there are those who carefully analyse the consequences and keep their patience, And also there are people who play the guessing way to try out their luck with things. But, there is another route which people resort to when faced with the not so pleasant times in life – the blame game.

Blaming is often the easiest route out of real life problems. You tend to hold someone else responsible for your terrible situations, but leave them with no credit when something goes right. Because it is easy to put the fault on others and feel lighter, than it is to stand up and take responsibility of your actions. And if this wasn’t just enough, it many a times ends up with blaming the supreme power above for doing this to you or giving you such a horrendous life.  For it is merely a matter of convenience to shift the blame and to feed the pseudo ego burning on the inside.

But your conscience is not a puppet of your wishes, deep down inside it holds you accountable. Because no matter how much you’d like to believe that you aren’t wrong, the guilt does linger on somewhere on the inside. It is often simple to choose the wrong path, but it would often leave you with a void of “what ifs”. Because having confidence in your own self is harder than using an excuse or a cover, but it is much harder loosing your own self than to be unable to face yourself in the mirror and answer you inner voice. Yes, faith is hard to keep in those difficult times, but it is never too late to take charge of your own life.

The law of Action-Reaction

Isn’t it amazing, how life changes every time the hands of the clock tick? How change is inevitable, and how what you have can turn into what you once had? How one moment or that one chance could completely turn everything upside down? But is it true that the incident is solely responsible to make things either better or worse for you? Dwell into yourself and think, the answer will be a ‘NO’.

There is much more to that turning point, which goes beyond the negatives and the positives associated with it, and that is you and your response to it. How you adapt to a situation or grab that one opportunity. But most importantly, how you implement it into your system. How that one incident affects your attitude and behaviour from the moment it enters into your life, is what shapes you as human being. You may make the most of it or you may waste it, it may give you everything or leave you with nothing, but worst of all, it could change you as a person from within.

You might do it unwillingly, sometimes you don’t even realise how an incident affects you and makes you indifferent. Or maybe even oblivious. You just can’t see through it. But sometimes, you forcibly lock yourself up and build an invisible wall right in front of yourself. According to the law of action – reaction, “the force exerted by object 1 upon object 2 is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force exerted by object 2 upon object 1”. So is it fair if our reaction to every person or emotional situation is the same after an action from one situation or that one person? Why do we become cold or why do we develop trust issues or why do we start hating life just because that one incident ruined everything for us?

The beauty of life lies in the fact that it is dynamic. No matter how much we try and control one end, some or the other end is going to flow loose. Like a batsman can’t hit a six at every ball thrown to him, we can’t excel at every challenge life throws at us. You may often feel like the bad times are much longer than the good ones, but you have it in you to go through a situation and come out stronger. You have the will, spirit and patience and you have your time with you. Wounds take a while to heal, and it is okay to be absolutely lost when you’re in shock or pain. But once you decide that you want to heal, come out with the best version of yourself. If something is going to change you, let it be for the positive.

Let every morning serve as a ray of hope after a dark night and the sunrise as a motivation to smile. Get up, take a deep breath and shed the baggage of those not so pleasant past experiences. Let the child in you who was never touched by the tactics of the cruel world thrive again. Let that trust and innocence revive, and let no doubt clog your mind.  Discover yourself, find something you love to do and whenever in life you feel low, do that one activity which serves as your release. Compete only and only with your own self and pat your own back at your smallest achievements.

Do it for your own self, because you and only YOU DESERVE this.