Choices and Paths

A man once came upon the gates of heaven wherein the recording angel asked him, "show me your wounds." The man said he didn't have any, and the angel replied, "you mean to say you didn't believe in anything enough to fight for it?"

I have my own share of wounds, some recent some long past. And all of those wounds, I'd like to think, I got by fighting for what I believed, what I loved, what I dreamed, with every last inch of my will and every last breath until there was nothing left in me to give. And still I gave that little piece of me that scarred over. If today I were to meet the recording angel, I would have a lot to show.

But at the same time, there are a lot of things that I gave up because they were too difficult, too hard, too much effort not worth giving. I have a lot of those too. Sometimes the burden weighs like a mountain, and letting that go is so easy. But I have learned, more often than not, the harder it is, the more it's worth fighting for. For what can we gain of value from something so easily attained. The more effort you exert for something, the more precious it is for you. And quitting is accepting that you didn't deserve it in the first place. The true test of character is going on when everyone believes it's completely ok to give up. But there are rare times when letting go is the more valiant thing than stubbornly refusing to move on. The problem is, how can you tell when it's that time?

You can't.

You decide when the choice is in front of you, not before, not after. Maybe I'm jaded already, maybe I've given too much, maybe none of it matters after all. In life, we are all in a journey, our own journey. And as much as we'd like to travel with the same companions, we all walk different paths. Sometimes we end up in the same place, but more often than not, we reach a different destination. And sometimes, the roads we walk take a turn and move on opposite ways, sometimes never to cross paths again.

But looking back at the journey, isn't it better to say that at least for part of the way, you had a friend to walk with.