The woman did not have a single penny to her name. She was in the middle of nowhere and desperately wanted to get back her home-town. But she could not, because there was neither a house nor a job, or a person waiting for her out there. And yet, the woman wanted to get back to that place because she had fallen in love with her society-rich lifestyle and firmly believed that she would be able to get her currently desolate life, back on track.
Wondering about her next move, the woman made a bid to enter her elder sister’s home. Said sister loved her younger sibling too much to say “no” to someone whom she knew had gotten into the pattern of repeatedly disrupting her own life, thereby becoming her own misery.
The older sister sighed and took the woman into her house. Relieved that she now had food to eat and a shelter overhead, the woman soon began to assess her surroundings. What she saw was a small house with way too many people living within it. Obviously, it did not take long for the woman to find fault with everything and everyone inside the house.
To top it all, her older sister, being a no-nonsense lady, and well-aware of her sibling’s shenanigans, informed her that she had to take part in house-hold chores. The woman was in pain. She cried internally, every day, continuously looking for ways and means to make enough money to get out of her sister’s little hut, and back to her own home-town.
Completely broke, the woman realized that the only way to get back, was for her sister to send her back. But her sister was not willing to part with her own hard-earned money and pay for her sibling’s uncertainties. In desperation, the woman understood that if her sister would not willingly pay for her trip, she had to make her sister pay for it.
The woman not only began to complain, but also started preaching to her sister, getting into the other woman’s nerves well enough for her to want the woman out of her house. Eventually, the highly agitated older sister did indeed end up paying for her sibling’s way back to her home-town.
Concerned about how the woman would fare without any money, the elder sister also lent her a small loan to tide over. Hoping that her sibling would keep the money for a meaningful activity, imagine the elder sister’s shock when she saw that the woman had used the loaned amount to get her hair colored!
Too frustrated and angry to question the woman’s irrational decision, her elder sister saw her on her way, fervently praying to the lord to bless her poor sister’s deranged soul.
Having only the travel tickets, and not a single penny to her name, the woman made her way towards the flight that would deliver her to her heaven – her hometown. She was well aware of the fact that her elder sister was infuriated with her over the fact that she had spent her last unit of money on a facial and getting her hair colored. But only the woman knew why she had done what she had done.
She trudged towards the booking counter, lugging her heavy baggage behind her, aware that she would be asked to pay for the extra weight. When the person at the counter remain unfazed over her pleas, the woman turned to look at the man who was standing in the next counter, waiting to load his single, small trolley.
The woman asked the man if her could load her baggage along with his trolley. She turned on her most charming persona and lightly touched her streaked hair. It glowed inside the well-lit airport. And the man obliged.
Dear Reader,
What seemed to be the most irrational act to one person, was actually survival mode for another. Only we know why we choose to do what we do. Most of us would dis-approve chasing a high-society lifestyle. To some others, there is no life beyond it.
Similarly I would hold dearly onto my last drop of money, reserving it only for a dire emergency. Probably, you would too. But there are others who dare to think otherwise. Despite of the risk of losing their last chance at life, these people would unhesitatingly spend the money on something that seems to be completely unnecessary. Their wants score over their needs.
Automatically, they put their wants over others’ wants and needs. And this is where they fail.
People like the woman, fail their own people.
You will find that most people like her are primarily leading a solitary life or become unhappy with their choice of partners. They choose to remain blind to the vampire-like effect that they leave on others, especially family and other close kin. This is because they peg self-love over love for others.
Self-love is important. Almost 40, and on the brink of health-issues on account of neglecting self-care, I am finally beginning to see the point in self-love. But this self-love should not cause or lead to the neglect and abuse of others, for it is the others who also make us who we are. After all, Earth wouldn’t be herself without the solar system to breathe life into her.
Here’s to finding the fine balance through right choices!
Stories for the Soul 