Things Work Out Just Fine

By: Mehak Saleem

I was once a carefree kid. Once, that's all. After sometime, a calamity struck me and I grew up.

It doesn't sound that bad once you actually get to be an adult. People assume that as you grow older, you tend to become wiser. Nah, not really. It all depends upon how much you can bear. By the time I got my senses to 'work and function' properly, I was 12. However, to actually ‘use’ the functioning brain, I had to wait till I was 16. With time, I keep learning, I keep changing and I keep defining my existence. This is one capability I did not possess a few years ago; common sense is the ability that I developed over the years and maybe, just maybe it'll keep on growing day by day, year by year.

I have walked those rough paths which ultimately break and wear you down and crush every last bit of hope left inside you. At one time, I gave up. I just thought no matter what I do, my prayers will be left unanswered and I'll be as miserable as I was back then.

After one entire year when I look at myself, I seem to comprehend and juxtapose the situation I was in, back then, and the circumstances that surround me now. It was a difficult time. I would stand still and blame everything around me for my miserable state of mind, but what I failed to understand was how my life is going to be as easy as I want it to be or how difficult I make it.

All these years, I was picked on, annoyed, bullied, but I managed to get myself back on track, every SINGLE time. In this selfish world, people will only talk to you for the sake of their reputation and their benefit. Our slogan should be, ‘Each act of kindness comes with a price.’ It's sad but it's true. Before you start Googling the author, I'm going to do you all a favour and admit that there isn't any author for this. These are just a handful of words typed down by someone who feels the need to understand the purpose of her existence.

Many a time, I was asked of what I wanted to be. Instantly, I knew the answer to this question. I had a statement memorised in the back of my head, ‘I want to be an architect.’ But for a fraction of a second, I went into those deep thoughts where the world momentarily stops and allows you to re-think your words. If the world actually stopped, our tongues would be in our mouths and we would be doing the whole humanity a favour by thinking twice before thoughtlessly throwing words out of our mouths.

Back to the ‘exaggerated’ momentary pause. I used to think whether it is my ambition to be an architect or is it just something that I wanted to be called. Now, I'm half way to graduation and I finally began to search for universities. I finally began to look up things for my future, but it didn't feel right to me, not as yet..

In this busy schedule, when we plan out our futures way before they are even meant to be executed, I realised that whatever we do is destined to happen. Every breath, every step, every action and every word counts in structuring your future. Being a good child, being grateful to your parents and being thankful to your Lord no matter what stage you go through. These are just some of the pivotal elements of your monument of success. Now, who wouldn't want to unveil an exemplary monument?! AND, if things get rough and tough, just remember, it all shall pass. It took me a long while to realise this.
I'm thankful that I have a few people who helped me realise this. Not everyone can be that lucky. You can have all the friends to laugh with you and to have fun with, but you will merely find a handful of people who would love you and care for you for all the right reasons, without any beneficial purpose for themselves. I'm finally satisfied with my situation.

No matter what place I'm in now, years from now, this will all be a memory that I actually learned from. Such memories turn into an advice for others and if you've lived through a time like this (which I hope you don't ever have to), you'll see that people will call you strong and wise. That's the best reward you can get; to be credited for standing stiff, and not still, through those days!