"Raindrops keep fallin' on ma head"

Winter in the Mother City. It rains a lot.

It was on one such cold and wet morning that I was staring out the window. Freezing cold, hugging myself to keep warm [although the A/C was turned up], I shifted my focus. From what was outside the window, to the window itself. And found myself becoming rather philosophical.

I watched in silent awe as the droplets fell against the glass. You never really take note of it, but then one day you wake up and notice the little things. I found myself likening the water droplets to people. Or rather, to the way life works.

Following one droplet on its path, I observed the following:

It hit the glass window near the top. It then slowly started on its downward journey. It was tough at first, having to go it alone, but then it would flow into the path left by another. And things would go much faster. Not much longer and the droplet deviated from the adoptive path, and proceeded with cutting its own once again. Now and then, it crashed into another droplet. Sometimes, this would speed Drop up, other times, the two would part ways just as quickly as they’d found each other. Eventually, though, little Drop made it all the way to the bottom of the window. And I could clearly discern the trail he’d left behind…

Now try relating that the humans:

We are born. Slowly, but surely, we stumble through life. The beginning is rough, and I’ll bet we feel like we’re going it alone; that no one else understands. And then we discover someone, a role model, and we try to be like them, and things are suddenly much easier. But we continue to progress and we find ourselves outgrowing said role model. Then we begin meeting new people. Some of them have a huge impact, and really help us in ways we can’t even express, while others are only around temporarily and play a less significant role than we’d imagined they would. Eventually, we make it to death’s door. And we need to live in such a way that we leave a trail blazing after us, that people miss us when we’re gone.

There are only two certainties in life: uncertainty and death. So live today, and live well. We can’t get by without the people in our lives- treat them with goodness and justness. Always. Because “it is in the shelter of others that we live”. Be good to those around you, especially to those who were good to you.

20 July 2013