Loneliness...

Staring into the abyss...no, fallen into it...deep, black, unending darkness... the kind that makes you think that there is no possibility of light coming through... the kind that envelopes you in a bear hug...rather the grip of a hungry, crazed octopus... makes you think there is no way out... no possibility that you can entertain of escape...of salvation, redemption and all those fancy words that religions like to throw at you to make you feel good and draw you into their web. You wonder if this is your destiny, that someone somewhere(or is it fate, or karma, or juju or the aliens or whatever you choose to call it) has decided that your life is one empty black hole that nobody truly understands... you feel that it can't get any worse than it is...

This is your life...

You are stuck in your despair.. it pulls you down like quicksand and doesn’t let go.. so you struggle and moan and whine.. You behave badly at work.. at home, with your friends.. looking for some sympathy, perhaps empathy even? And the lack of it makes you fall even further down your personal black hole... A cyclical process that seems to go on and on and on like the seasons...

PAUSE...

Every abyss is called so because it is dark, deep and you cannot fathom its depth, but also because it is something you look down into and wonder. However what if you change your viewpoint? What if you decided to look at it another way, if you were down in the abyss... instead of looking down, what if you looked up? What if you saw the glass as half full instead of half empty? What does that take? A quantum leap on your part? A superhuman effort? No... it takes just a shift in perspective. Your perspective, or reality as you see it, is not objectively determined but decided by your perceptive apparatus. So why do this at all? Why look at things differently? Because that is the only way that you can hope to find some light at the end of that tunnel...that is the road to sanity, happiness, self-actualization, peace of mind and all the good things you have been told are what life is really all about.

Right, so you know what to do...but how do you do it? How do you put philosophy (high funda common sense, or just plain crap depending on your viewpoint) into action that produces results? It is by going one step at a time.. Putting one weary foot in front of the other... your mind tells you to quit, it says “ah what’s the point? It’s all worthless anyway.. you put in all this effort and ultimately it is pointless.. there may not be a pot of gold at the end of it all.. and even if there is, you may not be able to enjoy it..” True, but is it not the essence of being human that you try anyway? Throughout our evolution and development as a species we have always tried to overcome the odds thrown at us, with varying degrees of success... So you keep putting that cracked foot forward for as long as it takes, and you get up using your cracked and blistered hands every time you fall. Think of all that is good in the world- a random act of kindness, a smile from a total stranger, the beauty of a sunrise, the delicate intricacy of a flower, the sweet song of the birds, the fresh smell of grass in the morning, the sound of waves on the seashore- and you find the courage to go on, for you are moving towards all that is good in this world. The journey may be long, arduous and you may not make your destination, but you have tried, and that is the first step... the first step in a journey of a thousand miles.. or many more..

GODSPEED...