“We rarely hear the inward music, but we’re all dancing to it nevertheless.” ~ Rumi

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I have been a wanderer, a lost soul, for the major part of my life.

I have wandered in search of love, peace, success, pleasure, pain, and sometimes, wandered for nothing.

Wandering on the shore of life, I have stumbled upon many shells—some spoke to me, some yelled out loud, and some stayed quiet all throughout.

Yet, each and every one of them taught me something that I needed to know then.

Yet, when I look back today, I wish I’d known those things sooner:

I wish I’d known sooner that time is always running and in waiting for tomorrow, today is gone. I wish I’d seized some precious moments that I lost in waiting, wishing, and hoping.

While time goes by, it keeps taking away our bits and pieces from us. I wish I’d known sooner how to preserve them, how to make the most of them.

“Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.” ~ Miles Davis

I wish I’d known sooner that relationships don’t define us. We define our relationships. The worth and meaning is for us to give. But, we are made to believe that it’s the other way round. We fool ourselves into believing that our lives are a sum total of the relationships that we have—that we need to validate our being.

I wish I’d known sooner that, that is untrue. We only need ourselves. We are at the center of our own universe and all meanings are for us to give.

We don’t need to depend on someone or others to make our lives meaningful. We are our own light. We just need to trust ourselves. We need to let ourselves be guided by our own light.

Relationships enable us to expand and grow. They accessorize what’s already beautiful and whole—our being.

I wish I’d known that the best relationships are the ones that make you feel warm and  fuzzy on the inside. They make you want to reach into your depths and pull out the best version of you, every step of the way. They remind you that you are whole and complete in every way.

I wish I’d known sooner that searching for peace of mind is futile. Peace, harmony, and happiness are not lost. They are here. Now. In this very moment.

We spend an entire lifetime searching for something that’s right here—within us, within this very moment. Happiness is now. Peace is now. It’s not lost in yesterdays and it’s not supposed to be found in an obscure tomorrow.  It’s here. We need to stop running—into the memories of a past left behind or a future that’s unknown. We need to be in the present.

I wish I’d known this sooner.

But I know it now.

I wish I’d known that life will always be ready to throw curve balls at us and that we need to be prepared. I wish I’d taken some chances when life was resting and I was ready to play when it was charged. I wish I’d treated my life as if it belonged to me instead of taking it for granted. I wish I’d not let life slip by…at times.

I wish I’d known sooner that emotions are transient. They need to be held like butterflies sitting on your palm. They need to be held with a deliberate tenderness, so that they can come and go in their own time.

I wish I’d known sooner not to hold onto them so tightly that I forget to breathe.

I wish I’d known sooner that being with our own selves is a gift. I wish I’d understood this earlier, that the whole universe is within us and loneliness is just a state of mind—transient. Temporary.

I wish I’d known sooner, that all you need to live a fulfilling life is to embrace who you are—totally and completely.

All we need to do is accept our light and shadow and let them make us whole.

I wish I’d known sooner that we are already whole.

“By being yourself, you put something beautiful into the world that was not there before.” ~ Edmin Elliot

But, I know that today and that’s enough.

Today is what matters.

Now is what’s important.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist that is all.” ~ Oscar Wilde

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