Crossroads:

Sometimes bad things happen.

Things change. Good friends leave. There are fights and ego clashes. Harsh words are exchanged and you find yourself getting disrespected. You get hurt, you get rejected, you get beaten down and you can’t find the will to stand up. Sometimes you lose a friend, sometimes you lose your job and you’re met with dead ends wherever you go. These are normal happenings, ordinary things to be expected in the journey of life.

What is abnormal is the defeatist attitude we have adopted towards it. If a phone breaks down, get a new one, if a marriage breaks down; get a new spouse. We live in an age where we accept defeat before we start fighting, where we’d rather throw things away than try to fix it. An attitude perpetuated by selfish desires to protect me, myself and my individual interests. The friendship doesn’t serve me so I cut ties, the marriage works no longer so let’s divorce. You don’t agree with me, too bad, your loss; I’m off to live my life. Hasta la vista buddy.

When we are at the crossroads of life between hope and despair, we seem to choose despair without a second thought.

The underlying theme for this generation seems to be “Let it go”. The casual way in which this phrase is used has always annoyed me. Letting go is not something rash decided in the heat of the moment and it is not giving up. Letting go only happens in the worst case scenario. It happens when you have done everything within your power to save a project, a business or a relationship and holding on has started negatively impacting your life. Then and only then is letting go an option. The difference between giving up and letting go is that giving up happens before you even try and letting go happens after you have done everything that you possibly can. And if you truly did everything that you possibly could you can walk away with no regrets.

I was brought up in the age where we fixed things that were broken. If a kettle broke we would fix it instead of getting a new one. If a relationship was endangered, we would sort things out instead of cutting ties. Abandoning ship without even trying to stop it from sinking has never been an option.

There is no courage in simply ending things and giving up. There is no courage in running away without trying to fix things. There is nothing to be gained by dwelling on the tragedies of the past and seeing the present through the same light. There is nothing to be gained by giving way for despair without ever considering hope.

If you live life distrusting people you have yet to meet because of something that others have done to you in the past you will be a very lonely person indeed.

A little more persistence, a little more effort and what seemed like a hopeless failure may turn into a glorious success.

So hang in there. Follow your heart. When you are at the crossroads of life, choose hope. Walk bravely along that path.

And lights will guide you home.