Encouragement

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“I remember you upon my bed and mediate on you in the watches of the night.” Psalms 63:6

In life, we always long for the good old days, a time when everything was rosy and nice, the carefree days, love filled moments, the easy familiarity, glorious hours of sunshine and smiles.
We eagerly await in our hearts for such days to repeat itself, when we can access such days with abandon, no rules to be followed and just give in to the beauty of the moment.
Our heart aches for such moments and we long for the golden pattern of life to be followed again. The happy morning hours, the joy filled time, the sunset lure and the twilight hours.

But sometimes against our will, time reverts. We are faced with rules and terms. The once happy days turn into long and empty ones, life becomes monotonous, we go through the rituals of the day half heartedly.
If we notice, it is when we enjoy life to the fullest without reasoning, that we find it more pleasing. This is something akin to when I prepare a dish and follow the tried and tested procedures, the end result is not so desirable as when I follow a completely bizarre method, use my own creativity and realise that the dish has turned out so much better. Though at the end of it all, I must admit that I cannot recall entirely as to what ingredients I have added.

We all hold fond memories which we gather from childhood. I remember a Flame tree across my residence which was my favourite tree. I could gaze at it endlessly specially when it was in full bloom. I also recall the ‘Alma Mater’ song which I sang along with my classmates at the farewell party towards the end of my school years. Another very significant day in my life was the day I received Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion. I used to also treasure a doll which my parents had gifted to me. I always had this notion in school the whole day that my doll was waiting for me to return home and I used to hurry back in the evening. Sometimes, we don’t really grow up or the child within us never grows up. We realise that even now we can still be childish and immature at times.

There are some memories which can never be repeated again, the time spent with those who cannot be with us. But without our realizing it, we still carry them in our hearts after having shared so much with them. I came across this beautiful verse which captured my heart instantly; “You carry away with you a reflection of me; a part of me. You will always be a part of my life. If I love you, it must be because we shared at some moment, the same longing, the same madness, the same stage.” I would like to add to this. “We also shared the same time, the same memories, the same waiting and the same pain.”

The pain always outnumbers everything else. It stands pre-dominant. The tears never stop falling. We cannot be with those we miss but love burns strongly in the heart, It is said that boundaries divide but love unites, hearts break but relationships still exist. True happiness is wanting others to be happy. To silently pray in our hearts for their well being, to ask the Lord to shower His abundant blessings and grant success at every step.

We are almost towards the end of the year and in a month from now will probably start retrospecting over the year that will soon end. We always hang on to the wonderful memories that we make each year to help sustain us in the coming days.
Somehow, the year always starts on a very good and positive note but towards the latter half of the year, we tend to become more sentimental.
The way it used to be, will always be in our hearts until we are allowed a repeat performance.

Maria Franco

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