Rain on the bus

Another arduous bus journey for a good reason. Sigh. It’s been the 5^th in this month. I settled down to enjoy the solitude as the seat next to me was empty. The only company I had to myself now was the water bottle and the blanket to keep me warm through the night. Life goes on no matter what we wish for or against.

A drizzle began outside. Part of me wished I would feel the raindrops caress my face. Another part was thankful that I had taken a sealed bus. Sighing again, I rested my face against the window and saw life on the outside. The driver touched a few buttons on his huge cockpit, backed up and rumbled out on the arterial road to join the millions of people seeking their destinations. Some happy to get soaked, some irritated, some cowering under a tree.

I counted the drops as each trickled down the glass. The glare of the oncoming traffic made me squint. Like each breath of life, each light hearkened me to view a reflection of my face on the window. The rain drops fell like tears on my reflection. I squinted and saw the crow’s feet on my eyes. Indeed, the only thing certain in life is life itself, followed by age and ultimately death. We seek the middle path so much that we forget age and experience. We need to remind ourselves to enjoy every moment that we are here.

6.5 billion of us. No two with the same set of experience. We live through our experiences out of little choice. But the choice we do have is whether we embrace the learning out of each experience. For no one else can truly know what each of us go through. It is personal and affects us alone.

For unknown reasons, we always reminisce on our bitter or learning experiences. We dwell on them and some of us reach down to self-pity in the hope that soon all will be well. And it will. Yet others face their pain head-on and emerge stronger. But what we really need to know is that each bitter experience shears away a part of our ego and mind and creates a new facet in us. Nothing tears faster than sorrow. It is abrupt and goes to the heart. The following happy experiences polish the facet and show us the pain was worth it. But happy experiences are accepted as our birth right. We accept it with some vanity.

Throughout life, our interaction with scores of others creates us. Our attachments, detachments and letting go make us aware of who we are; if we look inside. The constant shearing and polishing of our ego gives us an ever-changing face. Most of us do not realize it but embracing our pain, sorrow and joy and learning from it reflects our true self when we look at our soul in the mirror to see the proof of pain before joy. Each one of us becomes what we always are inside……a diamond.