Our Struggles

We are all fighting different kinds of battles. Fighting against various things, against different people, against various circumstances, even against our own minds. Many of us know how to hide our pain, many of us aren't quite as good at concealing it. But hiding pain doesn't make it lessen; instead, it keeps growing. It's not that we don't want to be well; we do want to be well, yet somehow we just can't manage to be.

When someone comes before us and says, "You need to be well," we smile inwardly and think, this isn't anything novel—I know myself that I need to be well. Giving such advice is easy, and even those who give it aren't necessarily well themselves. Everyone knows that one must be well; there's nothing to be so scholarly about.

Most of those who tell us to be well have something in their manner of speaking that diminishes us. Ask any of them to listen to your sorrows; you'll see they have no time to listen. They don't understand you, don't want to understand; they give advice without understanding. Then it feels even worse. Among them you'll also find people who think you're perhaps acting or trying to get attention. They assume you're attention-seeking. Think about it—if they can't understand you or your mental state, how can they help you? And if they can't help, then what's the need for all this grand talk? Listening to them only makes you feel worse, and they know this. Knowing full well, they still say such things.

This happens often. People will leave you, they'll break your heart and go, you'll lose someone dear. What then? What you thought was your due, you won't get—someone else will. Again you'll suffer, you won't understand where exactly you went wrong! Loneliness will come and consume you, gradually you'll begin to distrust everyone around you. All around you'll see not people, but only shadows. You'll feel everyone wants to harm you, no one loves you, everyone is deceiving you.

Despite having done nothing wrong, you'll always find that what you're thinking isn't happening. Thinking such things, sleep won't come at night, everything will pass in restlessness. Often your heart will be heavy, your mood will stay sour. Nothing will feel good, everyone and everything will seem irritating.

These things happen; not just to you, but to me, to everyone. Keep in mind, nothing in this world is permanent. Sorrow too goes away in time. As time moves forward, you'll see new memories joining your life, layers of fresh memories gradually settling over old pains, and thus your former anguish and regret will slowly begin to fade. The sufferings of the past, which once seemed so deep and intense, will seem trivial. You will grow beautifully again. To reach that time, one must wait with patience.

Suddenly one day you'll look back and think, thank goodness! That pain came into my life! Otherwise how would I have learned so much? How would I have understood people? How would I have reached where I am today? Tell me, if there were no sunset, would sunrise receive so much love?