The Completeness of Life

This is a letter from a friend whom you think is your enemy. I really want to be your friend, I somehow want to tell you that I feel so sad when you are sad and I feel so glad when you are glad. I saw all your struggles, your downfalls and your continuous effort to hold on to life. There were times when I know you don't have the energy to even put your one foot forward to get to your destination. You have wanted to give up, but you never did.

I know everything you feel and I can perceive everything you think. You often speak with me and I am attentive in listening to all your pleas and your cries. It breaks me to see you beaten and lost in a fight, you said that you are not really living for you believe that you are only surviving.

How can I make you see that this world is only one speck of reality? You crave for something that you do not have, yet ignoring the things that you do have. You have wanted to explore the world to see the beauty that is hidden from your eyes. Look straight into the horizon, can you see the rays of the sun? It remains untouched, yet you feel it penetrating into your skin. You don't have to see everything, you only need to look at what is in front of you and sometimes take a glance at your sides or turn around to see what is behind you. From there, feel the wind and breathe. Isn't it relaxing to just plainly be at peace with yourself? You don't need to spend a penny to feel the completeness of life. Life itself is complete, you only add up something to it. Add a little or add a lot, just put on the right ingredients to make it better.

You have seen a lot of things that are sore so confusion towered over you. You thought life is easy, then it struck you when time allowed you to be a witness of the harsh realities of life. You asked too many questions, unsatisfied by the answers given to you, you treaded into high and low waters. It's so unnerving that you nearly drowned while you are in shallow waters. You managed to stay away, but became afraid of the real troubles from deep within. Curiosity entered your mind and bravely you paddled into the ocean of mysteries, with your mind set that you really want to unravel those secrets underneath. Suddenly, you felt that you are lost, you began to shout yet no one heard you. You began to try all sorts of possible ways that you think will save you until you became restless. I can only hear your sobs when you feel hurt, I can see you shiver when the coldness of the night embraced you, I can also see you wince in pain when you are burning from the heat of the sun. You have suffered tremendously from your own point of you.

You once said that life is not always a bed of roses, but an array of thorns. Though beautiful as it is, the rose has thorns ... but the thorns are what make a rose real, just like life. Difficulties are part of everyday life, that is what life is made of and that is why life becomes real. A devastation is what you have imagined for a single pain that you feel, then you became aware that you are not the only one suffering. There were people dying from the real destructions beyond the control of anyone. There were those who are so pitiful that you can only shed a tear when you see them. Then you realize how lucky you are for you do not belong to those who are unfortunate to not even know who they are.

You have searched yourself endlessly, but you have not found your true self. How can you ever find what you are looking for when you hid yourself from your own eyes? You see a different person when you look into a mirror, the person staring back at you is not the one that you want to see. But it is you ... you can not re-arrange the truth and turn it into lies. You always want to live with the truth, but the truth is what makes you feel so sad. Acceptance of the truth is one thing that you can not do, you always want to change things to your own liking. Learn how to accept the truth, the realities before you will be able to set you free. Everything is beyond your control, you can not cheat on life as it will only put you into an even darker part of the room where you are now. There are lights hanging above you, you only have to turn on the switch then you can see clearly the things that you need to see.

You were given enormous treasures, valuables that can not be found anywhere else. You wanted to discard all of those in exchange for something that you think will make you happy. Have you ever asked yourself if it is really the one thing that you truly want? I wonder what you will be like when all that you have are gone. I can only foresee that you will not just doubly unhappy when you don't have anything at all. For the moment, cherish what you have and more beautiful things will come to you. Don't dwell on the regrets that you feel for they will soon come to pass. Time will help you heal all wounds and the scars which now make a solid mark into your totality will stay to remind you of a triumph you once had.

Complete happiness is what you yearn for, but do you really believe that a person can achieve it? I'm not sure whether there is a single soul living here on earth that had achieved complete happiness. Some may claim that they are happy, but are they completely happy? Move ahead and define happiness ... happiness is not being able to laugh or smile. So where is happiness? It lies within your heart, it resides within yourself. Clear your heart from doubts and fears. Though seasons recurringly change, it left something for you to think about. It left behind the times and moments when you have undefinable feelings. It was a season of tears, but it was never a season of fears because you have accepted the challenges it brought.

You have underrated yourself for somebody who is worthless, a person that is beyond what a normal being can be. You looked down at yourself, but you were amazed that there are actually people believing in you. If only you can also believe in yourself... in your capabilities and the talents you possess. You may not be as wonderful as the ones you admired, but there is something inside you that you can be proud of.

Faith and hope are resistant from the elements that keep you from being the person you want to be. Faith is there to strengthen you when you feel so weak, it enables you to stand up whenever you slip. Hope occupies a portion of your heart and mind, it is there all along and it serves as a guide for you to be on the right track when you wander too far. But, you only have little room for love. I doubt it if you even love yourself, should I tell you why? If love is present in you, you will never be the person that you despise of. You said that you let love in and you allowed it to dominate your whole being, then why are you feeling terribly sorry for yourself? There are certain rules that you must know, loving doesn't mean everything. It is like a cycle in man's life, life springs from life and so does love. Life has its end and so does love, but life itself does not end gracefully as there were those who feel the loss. Love has to cry, but it need not die. Learn to love yourself as a starter.

There is an intervening attitude of yours that I really detest, anger almost always engulps you. Suppress the feeling of hatred in your heart, learn how to forgive and forget. People are sometimes mean, they hurt you with just a single word. Just remember, it is always a divine thing when you have the ability to forgive. Forgiving may mean swallowing your pride, but isn't it better than being swallowed by your pride? Now, to forget is another thing ... it is something that is hard to do. Always remember that memories can keep you captive, it will lock you into the virtuality of things that have long been gone. Take on the benefits it can give and depart from its ravaging effects.

I am putting my trust on you, it is only up to you to achieve all goals that you have set. In your mind and in your heart you believe that you will be able to make it. You have already survived trials in the past, you have crossed the barriers of time so don't be afraid to move ahead again. Your quest will soon come to an end.

Most of all, don't forget to pray to the One who knows everything. He can give you the comfort no one else can give, He is always ready to lend a hand for you to hold on to. He loves you more than you think He can, you don't need to ask anything from Him as He always provides. Don't despair when you have asked for friends, but you were given enemies and when you have asked for love, you were given hatred. It is His own mysterious way to tell you of a message He wants to relay.

If you feel and think that you have nothing at all, let me assure you that you have me ... a friend.

And, maybe, just maybe, it is in nothingness that you will feel the completeness in life.



This is a letter I sent to a very special friend during the most trying days of her life.