All Roads Lead To Your Rome...

"Socha to maine kai martaba, yun hota to jaane kya kya hota,

  Khayal ye aaya zehen mein, yun hota to shayad  main na hota."

Each one of us, yes each one, has taken different turns and abandoned many choices to follow the road which we are walking upon now. Apparently, each one of us has also wondered at each point, on each of those roads, whether or not it was the correct one. What more, even if the one we follow now seems good enough, we have the thought at the back of our minds, if this is the one; or what if this is the wrong one again. No matter how certain we are about ourselves, we as humans sustain the fear of the unknown, which owes to the characteristic of a human.

Doesn't it happen that sometimes, when we are consistently trying to find that light out of darkness within ourselves, we wonder if our choices could have been different to lead us to some other version of ourselves? Perhaps, we all daydream at some or the other point in our lives about those 'what ifs?'. In fact, we might even create a whole new prospect of the possible parallel universes we find when following the results of those 'what ifs'.

These 'what ifs' seem to be the culprit of everything that troubles us deep inside our hearts, isn't it? And then we might wonder about an unknown venture of our days to come, concluded from those thoughts, ignoring what we know about ourselves and about our days to come. It is natural to ponder upon our mistakes, past, grievances, glories and get trapped in this maze of 'what ifs'. It is obvious to get baffled and wonder how things could have gone, which road we could have travelled, just because things seem uncertain right now.

But do you know, we often forget the simple fact that we are afraid of the unknown, no matter how gloomy the known might seem. I have realized this at many instances that we unknowingly accept what we have lived. We might wonder about changing what happened, but if we were really given a chance, we would never do so. Yes, we would never go and change the road. Reason: We are uncertain of where it would have led us.

I will tell you exactly as I have experienced this feeling. When you start complaining about how you have become or start feeling low about something, when you get trapped in those possibilities of 'what ifs', remember this. If you don't believe me, just sit for a moment and think about your life. Ask yourself and notice what answer you give.

"Is there anything in life that you regret?" You might say yes.
"Is there anything you want to change, given a chance?" You might say yes and even suggest the changes to yourself.
Now ask yourself, what you could have done if those changes were made. It might take a moment, but you will find that you actually do not want to change anything. Why? Because in your current situation, you know who you are, what you have done, what you can do, what you should do and what you shouldn't. But any other possibility brings an unclear picture to yourself and after a minute of thinking, you realize that the place where you are right now, is the way it should have been, because from here, you will be able to pursue your journey, in your best possible way.

The truth that follows is that none of us really wants to change anything about what happened. Deep inside, we are comfortable with and proud of who we are today, no matter how many mistakes we made. We can justify ourselves for everything that happened on the way, and somehow it gives us the strength to move further on our present road. We will also agree that if it hadn't been for those moments and roads, we wouldn't have become who we are today, and we wouldn't have known our flaws, strengths, possibilities in depth. May be, we wouldn't even have known what to do and what not to do.

In the light of this point, we can finally smile at ourselves and believe that no matter what choices we make, we know better how to reach where we want to go, and we will be there, because no one else knows it better. Of course, making mistakes is a part of learning what we should not do and this knowledge has come from what we have already lived, in the way it was meant to be. Shouldn't we give up regretting what happened, then? It is time to love everything that life has given us and will give us, without complaints.

Once we have found our actual road, we will know that it is the one. At that time, we might not feel scared to leave our comfort zone, step out, face the odds and remove the darkness, even if it takes time for us to see that light; because we will know that the collected cobwebs within ourselves have been finally identified and will take a while to be removed once we have our light. The destined road will eventually be found from the one we walk upon now, because the journey is planned by someone up in another world. So no matter which ones we take, all those roads will lead us to our Rome. Have faith in yourself!