We see the lives of others displayed on a screen, written in a book, photographed and quoted and plastered all over the earth... We see these lives and think "Who am I, compared to such a man? Who am I to be proud of my life - when I have no such accomplishments?"
Sometimes it is the life of the wealthy we watch. We watch them stand atop the world and laugh in the face of misfortune - laugh when trouble comes their way. We see their joy and their wealth as synonymous things, neither obtainable without the other. And so we see their lives and wonder "Why him and not me?"
Sometimes it is the life of the beautiful - the life of the 'flawless' human being; their image plastered over every paper, every billboard, every screen... It is little wonder we attribute daily suffering to the impurities of our own bodies. We see them and dream of the freedom they must feel or the peace they must find in their perfection.
And then we see those who have risen from the ashes of a broken life: we hear stories of 'rags to riches', stories where the hero comes from humble origins to conquer the world. We assume that he is happy because of his fame and prosperity, and that his past was merely a temporal state of being: one he overcame...one he outgrew. Sometimes it is this soul whom we hate the most: hate for succeeding in his goal, hate for doing what we have yet to achieve, hate for being someone we are not.
And sometimes we simply look at another - no words exchanged, no past revealed - and think "Why can't I be him? Why can't I be her?"
We spend so much of our lives comparing ourselves to others. It is impossible, mentally and physically, for any one of us to see another human being without wondering who they are: wondering where they came from, and what they have to offer.,, Each and every soul on this earth is drawn to another - sometimes in love, sometimes in hate, sometimes in simply curiosity! A potential friendship, a potential love.,, Sometimes we see and we dismiss within seconds, and sometimes a single soul will imprint a lasting memory - one that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
I seem to be using the word 'sometimes' a lot...but in reality there is no way to know which life will change us, and which life will not. We cannot place labels, dates or times on an individual, for they are not simply a face to be seen or a name to be heard. There is a life behind each letter and life behind each smile. We are all a story, waiting to be told - waiting to be shared and experienced and plastered on walls. We want to be seen by the world but feel the world will not open its eyes to see us.
We may not all end up in a movie, or have our stories written down in a book, but that does not mean our lives are not there. That does not mean we are not a 'somebody', that we are not a life on this earth. Each and every one of us is a part of something more. There is no soul, living or dead who has meant nothing to this world: no soul capable of a presence here without adding a page or two to earth's tale.
Life is a story.
You are a story.
There are characters besides your own in there - don't shut the book on them too.
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