Here is okay

You're right here again...& what blows your mind is you were here all the time & it's such a cosmic joke, It's so funny - your struggling so to get here - Ram Dass

HERE IS OKAY

 

I stand on the pavement watching the passers by. I need to get across the road. Or to the end of it. Somewhere. Anywhere. Anywhere but here.  No one stops for me to pass. I wave my hand frantically but they don’t seem to see me.  They are moving too fast. They have no reason to slow down for me.

 

Maybe I could join them. I take a step forward. But that is all I can manage. A step forward. I remember what had happened the last time I had tried to join this maddening crowd, scurrying off, trying to reach a destination they have no idea about. I had been crushed under their hypocritical ridiculously overpriced shoes. I was too slow for them.

 

So, I look for someone drifting along at my pace. Another dropout from this strange quest. But till I’m looking, I find no one.

 

I stop looking.

 

I see another rival go under. Someone whose expectations and judgements had trampled all over me. For a moment, I feel satisfied. The next moment I despise myself for giving in to revenge and envy. I don’t like myself.

 

And in this darkness is where he finds me. He doesn’t come in honking a loud horn or with a booming shout. Nor does he come to a screeching halt. Just sort of creeps up on me.

 

I look at him and I know.

 

“You don’t have to get across the road. Or to the end of it. Here is okay,” he says.

 

I don’t feel the need to search for a way through all the traffic anymore.

 

We walk ahead.

 

At the side.

 

At our own pace.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Being self, walking one's own path at one's own pace is what matters. We're all planted seeds who need to ripen and flourish in our own allotted time.. not to be forced, over-watered, tied too tightly, etc..

Your words are beautifully placed, make sense in the truest and gentlest way.

[Samaira]

Thank you so much.

[R Smith]

we are here, it's where we need to be, though others search high and low looking for their reason to be, the truth is here within us, we just need to breathe and look inside, that goal we seek, that reason to be is waiting for us to find it although we already know it, only the veils of illusion across our questing mind hold us back, it is here! we are here! it's all we need, a great story with bags of meaning Mannat, you quote Ram Dass, I too have followed him for many years, he has an excellent page on Facebook if you are on there, great work my friend :)

[Samaira]

Thank you for reading and giving your opinion. Here is within us and illusions are holding us back. I will check out the page on Facebook.

[andrew mitchell]

Excellent work on finding your own pace in life to share with an equal cos the rest don't care! Its all hurry hurry hurry!

[Samaira]

Yes, it is. No one else cares.
Thank you for reading.

[....................]

It is always good to be able to keep up with oneself and not have to worry about others. However, in today's fast-pace world, there is a perception that we all must keep up and move with the flow. I really love the message in this piece and admire how much you have packed into this brief write. Well-done!

[Samaira]

It is a common perception that most people have. Thank you.

[Perkele.7885]

Your pace is "the pace" for you. It is the only one that matters. You will get to where you are going based on the time frame that you set for yourself to get there. I usually pace myself to arrive anyplace that I am going to be what I refer to as 'fashionably early'.
The piece that you wrote is a little long-winded for what you had to say but, you said it well!

[Samaira]

I agree. Setting a time frame for yourself does help. Thank you.

[Jyoti_Ablaze]

Wow! A beautiful story.
Such is our lives, full of traffic and in the mist of chaos. You painted the picture so well, took the reader to that side walk.
Love can make everything stop, all that hustle and has the power to set the pace all so rhythmically that we can just sway.
Amazing piece.

[Samaira]

Thank you Jyoti. It's not just love. I guess even the right friends could do that for you.

[Jyoti_Ablaze]

Very true but I believe that's also a loving relationship where two incomplete souls complete each other without knowing.

[Samaira]

Yes. They do.

[Khawaja Musadiq]

Much more than well written. All praises to you Mannat. May you shine & excell always. :))

[Samaira]

Thank you. It's good to know you liked it.

[Khawaja Musadiq]

You're welcome. :)

[Arshia]

'Here is okay'- Firstly, I love the title of this story. I could totally relate to the story which aptly describes the mad rush which people are in nowadays which I too, fail to understand.
'We walk ahead. At the side. At our own pace."
An amazing write Mannat! :)

[Samaira]

Thank you Arshita. I love the title too. Calms me down.