16 Jan 2018

The Thieves That Set Me Free

Something had been bothering me for the last two weeks and while glimpses of sunshine were coming and going, today finally a veil lifted and I saw that what had appeared to be a problem (or catastrophe) in one way had actually opened up a lot of more possibilities for me. And of course it had also done some timely slashing of my ever inflating ego (something that always hurts but then also makes us more free and less caught up in our own tightly concluded identities). I just wrote this poem in acknowledgement of that 'blessing in disguise'.


The Thieves that set me free

I walked on wearily
I walked on slowly
I walked diligently
Towards goals I had set for myself

I held on firmly
I grasped tightly
I carried responsibly
My important items and resources

I had worked hard
I had worked sincerely
I had worked tirelessly
To build my bundle of items

And then the thieves came.
They stole those items
They busted my ego
And they ran quickly away

For a while I cried
I lamented
I cursed God
I cursed myself

Then I played victim
I blamed the thieves
I blamed society
I pitied myself

Eventually I got bored
Of crying
Of blaming
Of self pity

I realized nobody was coming
To rescue me
To dole out justice
To babysit me

I looked around me and asked,
‘What else is possible now?’

As I started walking I realized
I could hold my head upright
My legs moved faster
My hands were free

Without the load of all those items
I could skip and run with ease
I could pluck fruits and flowers along the way
I could enjoy the pretty scenery

With my ego beaten and gone
I was not tied to the path anymore
The goal had no grasp on me
And I could wander as I chose

The thieves came back
Apologetic and ashamed
They gave my items back to me

I looked them in their eyes and said
Thank you, for gifting me
A chance to experience lightness
And a universe of possibilities to explore

I gave them back the items
I did not need them anymore
I had found a way of living
Way greater than before

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