We were sitting on the roof in the early morning. Sipping a cup of tea and taking in the beautiful landscape that unfolded itself before us as the sun rose to the sky. Complete silence. Gently waking up. Taking it all in.
We look out towards the horizon.
He suddenly sees something out there. He gets up. He cannot see what it is, but the sun reflects in it and makes it shine. Our little bubble bursts. The silence is broken. His curiosity is awaken. He is alert.
He wants to go there. He wants to find the shiny object in the horizon. He wants to find out what it is. Find out what lies behind the horizon. Suddenly our little sunlit spot on the rooftop holds no interest to him. He cannot let go of his thoughts of the horizon. It shines, it must be better than here.
I don’t want to go, and he doesn’t want me to. Whatever is out there, it is meant for him alone. And I don’t understand. I don’t understand how the shiny horizon can be more beautiful to him than the sunshine on the rooftop. To me – there was nothing more beautiful than the morning light. But he thinks so, and so he has to go. I will not keep him from the light he sees. Even if I don’t understand.
I kiss him goodbye and I tell him to go find the shiny unknown behind the horizon. To find it and find out if it really is as beautiful as he thinks.
I tell him:
Find out if it is better than the morning light on the rooftop.
If it is, then come back and tell me about it.
Tell me of the beauty and maybe I will come too.
If it is not, then come back,
and I will be waiting for you on the rooftop with a cup of tea.
I am pretty sure this story is symbolic rather than literal. But a person has to do what he has to do!! Every person has a different sense of what’s important. And as you put it, and when someone goes away to chase a dream, there is nothing we can do except offer them a chance to come back after a journey…
wow that was touchy, if this was you, I hope get a closure, a happy ending, you cant just keep waiting!
All things change… And sunny rooftops are best shared with those special individuals who are satisfied with the rooftop or who would reach out to hold your hand while you went to your shared shiny horizons.
What if he wanted you to come, but out of your own initiative?
What if he comes back, and you’re gone?
What if he wanted to bring you the horizon?
What if himself doesn’t understand the light that drags him?
@Devil’s Mind; True, we cannot and should not hold people back from their dreams. Then we will have to see how long their journey will take and if we are still there when they return…
@Tamer: Thanks Tamer, I hope so too. I always hope for happy endings. But you do not always get what you hope for…
@Muradq: True – but unfortunately things are not always black and white, even though life would be easier to manage that way. But sometimes you do not know what light shines the brightest until you turn it off….
@xx:
1) Life is complicated like that but – first of all she does not read minds – so how could she possibly know? and second of all, if he walks away and chooses something else over her, and says that he doesnt want her to come – how can she possibly think that he underneith that would actually want her to come? There is also a third of all, but I will keep that for now.
2) That is a risk he has already taken by leaving. If you leave something or someone behind, you can only hope that they will be there when and if you decide to return. It is a balance – don’t take too long, because she might be gone when you come back, but at the same time, you cannot return before you have found what you set out looking for…
3) Then he should stick to that plan and see where it takes him…
4) Then he must try to find out. He must try to find out why he is dragged to the light, and if it really is as beautiful as he believes. He must find out what light he wants to shine in his life and if different lights can be combined or if he has to choose just one to follow…
He has to find out what constants he wants in his life and then use them to navigate through the rest.
We all have things we want, things we need and things we dream about. Our challenge is to find out what truly are the important things for us, the things worth holding on to. And then we hold on to them and take the rest as it comes.
Every choice in life comes with happiness and sadness, success and struggle. We cannot choose one over the other – so nomatter what light you choose, it will always bring you both.
So the choice concerns which kind of happiness and life you want.
I don’t know if that made any sense at all. Hopefully a little.
I am interested to get a woman’s opinion on a blog post of mine. Please, check it out.