And then there were none...

I looked at him with disappointed eyes. He seemed to sense the disappointment. He smiled and said "I am not great." I did not know whether to feel sorry for him or angry at him. Was this the guy I had idolized? The same guy who had the belief that he could bend the world to his will was now crooked himself, with the weight of his responsibilities.

Greatness comes not because of suffering but _in spite_ of it. Every fall I have had has only made me stronger. Every wound has made me a little more aware.

Why do people give up so easily? Why do they have to give up? On their dreams, on their ambitions, on their life? And why do they have to compromise?

You start off thinking you will rule the world one day. That you will make it a better place. That you will not let it's realities change you. And then you start realizing that are not as free as you think you are. You are shackled down. Shackled by the chains of responsibility. Towards your family, towards the people you love, towards the people that have employed you. Then there is always the question of inadequacy. Maybe you can't deal with everything at once. Maybe you aren't as smart or as strong as you had thought you were.

Everybody falls. Gravity spares no one. But you would like to think that people rise. Rise and start walking again. Ignore the pain and look beyond.Make up their mind to finish what they have started. To look up to the sky and believe that they can one day stretch their hand and reach beyond it.

But I can see you have given up. Surrendered to gravity, making no effort to get up. I feel betrayed. I feel disillusioned. I can't see clearly. My vision is blurred. Will this what happen to me? I think. Will I reach out for someone to pull me up from my fall and be left behind, too tired to get up by myself? Will I, with sheer mental effort be able to get up?

Life will resist. It will pull you down. Throw a thousand obstacles your way. Make you want to give up fighting. Makes you want to stop trying to get up.But I refuse to give up. Hope is what shines bright at the other end of the dark tunnel. I still believe I will change the world. I still believe I will leave it a better place. I still believe I can help people who deserve. I still believe I can make a difference. I WILL NOT GIVE UP this easy.

I will be patient and wait for the right time. I will constantly strive to move up to a position which gives me the right view and the reach from which I can change, appeal for change and demand change from the people I can reach out to. I have no dreams of changing the world overnight. But I can make an effort, reach out and give a chance to the world. Because it deserves it.

And finally I will have no more idols. Because idols are not gods, they are human beings. They can never be perfect and I will stop expecting them to be.I will revel in their imperfection and leverage on it. I will make imperfection my strength and my will my weapon. And one day, I shall make a difference. It might be the tiniest of changes but a change it will be. And that day, will my soul rest in peace, in harmony with the world that had sustained me.