Emancipate Yourselves: It's Okay to Be Perfectly Imperfect

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.

Redemption Song, Bob Marley

All our young lives we strive to find our place in this world where people would come to accept us and appreciate us for who we are. All our young lives we have optimistic and hopeful dreams-- of countless triumphs and our images as heroes of our days continue to be present within us. It feeds the flame of hope and determination to burn stronger than it already is. When we go to bed at night, we are already excited for the days to come because everything is perfect, what reason is there to be afraid of tomorrow?

Then we eventually grow and mature and realize that our little perfect world is not as perfect as it used to be. Dreams are shot down by both miniscule and massive failures, people pull you down as you strive to climb your way to the top, and you realize that dreams are not that easy to realize because sometimes dreaming is not just the key to achieving a goal nor is working your ass off. Accomplishments are discredited, for judgments from people come too soon before even noticing what you have worked so hard for. This is when you say, "There goes my effort going down the drain." The world continues to push you to the edge until you can no longer take it and your heart feels like it is going to burst at any second. You start to think about running away from all the madness. Beauty is gone. Laughter ceased. Tears roll down your cheeks on lonely nights yet you sometimes cannot quite put your finger on what exactly went wrong.

And then you think for a while, "Why am I still standing?" That is the mystery of life. We continue to fight our battles no matter how tired we already are. We continue to dream our dreams because it is what keeps us to continue fighting. We retain our FAITH whether religiously, spiritually, or personally. We refuse to throw in the towel because this is the good fight and no matter how the world takes its toll on us, there are still several reasons to laugh and smile-- like realizing that you beat your professor into the classroom just when you thought you were late, finding the last red strawberry Skittles just when you thought you ate all of them, watching an all-time favorite movie on a rainy day, or reading a chick lit novel while you devour cups of Reese's Peanut Buttercups and not mind how many calories one cup has.

By the hardships we endure, or as I like to call it, "cruelties of the world" (when I feel like dramatizing insanity), we learn to appreciate life's fleeting moments because we learn to take a firm grasp on these short instances -- when for a time we felt infinite (as Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower would call it). Nothing else matters but today-- the NOW. Neither is THEN nor TOMORROW important because "one day at a time" is the mantra a person should keep in mind. Otherwise, taking it all in will be too overwhelming. It's like saying, "Seize the day!" in a different way, I guess because I believe that Carpe Diem is a universal rule that everyone should follow.

Life is a never-ending cycle of ups and downs. You are lucky when you get stuck in the middle but when you're stuck way down below, you feel like the whole world has conspired against you and that you are the most pathetic loser in the planet. Do not be weary. Each individual has his or her own time to shine-- to feel the kindness of the world and the sweetness of life. Sometimes the bad days are for grooming each and everyone of us failures to be better persons so that when something greater comes along, we are ready to fight the battle and confidently say "Been there, done that. Bring it on!" On the contrary, when we get stuck on top of this never-ending grueling cycle of life, bear in mind that one should not be over-confident about how the world is on your side and that everything is going to be perfect forever. One should learn to value moments of triumphs and nurture the fruits of success wisely, otherwise it will be gone in a blink of an eye. Many have fallen and were broken when they encounter a change of fortune. Dr. Spencer Johnson, the author of Who Moved My Cheese? explained it very well that one should be change adept and should be able to "sniff" changes even from afar so that when that change comes, one is ready to ride along and the impact will not be as hard as anticipated.

So embrace life. We are not alone. People go through the "same shit, different day" phase all the time and chances are, we all think that we are the biggest failures of our day and that there will never come a time when we will finally see the end of the tunnel. But what is wonderful about the world that we are living in is that we are all connected to each other. One life can affect one life, and a person can affect another. We need not go through this world alone- we have friends and family and everyone else who care a great deal about us. You should not give yourself a hard time when things do not go according to plan. One day you will find yourself on the top because no one stays at the bottom of this cycle of life for too long. You might just wake up one day and be surprised that the world that we knew to be unfair and cruel may not be as unfair and cruel as we thought after all.

We are all pilgrimages in this journey. Bon Voyage!