A WALK IN THE RAIN

Yesterday, I took a walk in the rain.

As my family members were busy painting the house, I offered to help. But since there were no extra brushes, I had to go out and get one.

It was drizzling when I stepped out of the gate and then, I hesitated. My sister told me to drive to the shop. The distance to the shop is too near to drive. My father said, the shops were not opened on Sundays. I insisted I saw one open when I went out earlier to buy groceries for my mom. My cousin sister told me to ride the bicycle. She must be crazy. My aunt told me to call another relative to borrow from them. What? Borrow? I don’t think so.

Dismissing their advice, I chose to walk instead, because I needed the exercise anyway. I took an umbrella and made my way through the rain. It was then, the rain started to pour heavily. I had two alternatives – run back home or continued on. I chose the latter.

The road started to flood. I quickly ran and managed to get to a row of shops for shelter before I was drenched totally by inconsiderate and idiotic drivers; who seemed to enjoy speeding their cars faster on wet roads.

Much to my dismay, my dad was right. The hardware shop open for only half day on Sundays. I cursed myself for not listening to my dad. I cursed myself because I didn’t drive. I was glad I didn’t take the bicycle, though!

As I was wiping myself dry and waited for the rain to stop, I engaged myself in deep thoughts.

This is how everyone has been running his or her lives. When people were offering advice, some of us heed, some of us don’t. When people offering suggestions to make our lives easier, some of us prefer to opt for the road less traveled just for the extra challenges or insisted on the alternative, which we think, is right.

When our lives became difficult, we blamed it on the conditions – God’s act, bad luck, weather, lack of support from parents/friends etc. We never blame ourselves for not listening to people.

When some people happened to make it big – we became envious. We assumed the person has the right connection, all the luck in the world, money, good looks, supportive parents/friends, but chose to remain oblivious of their persistent hard work or the risks they have taken.

This is what I have learnt from my walk in the rain.

I learnt that I should just shut up and listen to people, but at the same time exercise discernment and also caution. If I want to pursue my dreams, I should go all the way, whole-heartedly and not to give up. Even if the end result is not up to my expectations or according to my heart’s desire, I should be glad that at least, I have tried.

When I make mistakes, I should learn from it, in order not to repeat it like a fool. And learn not to blame others for my own misfortune.

I chuckled at my foolishness and decided to walk home in the rain. I might get uncomfortable along the way home, but it was just temporary. I knew when I reach home; I could jump into a cozy, hot shower.

In the end, I didn’t paint the house as my aunt couldn’t tolerate my Van Gogh-ish brush strokes. I helped to clean up the mess instead.

Inspired by Paulo Coelho, the Zahir.