She Walked the Lonely Road

She walked the lonely road
Brave, head held high.
The wind caressing her hair,
The sunlight twinkling in her eyes.

One foot forward
Followed by the next
In tandem they moved
Her sight fixed far ahead.

The birds circled high above
The clouds a dreamy blur
The wind whispering in her ears
Secrets she hadn’t heard before.

Her dream was lofty
Her vision very high
The horizon beckoned her forward
The past she left far behind.

The road she walked on she created
With every step she took.
None had tread this way before,
No doubt everyone gave her the look.

But nothing mattered no more
She was up and on her way
Her dream was all that mattered
Her life she’d begun to live.

Out on a discovery
On an expedition to find
All that she had heard about
All that her teacher had defined.

The treasure was hers if found
No one else could claim
It was rightfully hers
Provided she could bear the pain.

The search would take her far
Away from dear ones
Alone, by herself, she’d have to tackle
All the obstacles in her path.

Determination writ large on her face
Courage backing her stride
Her dream drawing her forward
Faith shielding her eyes.

Her gait remained ever steady
She neither faltered nor stalled
She tripped a few times over
But that’s about all.

Fall she did,
But didn’t stay down at all.
Picking herself up with grace
She continued on unflustered.

How many like her
Have only dreamt of journeys such
Of carving out their own niche
And creating unparalleled paths.

A strength for many to come forward
An inspiration for many to try
Proof that everything is possible
If only you dare to strive.

Alone to the Alone…all Alone

The journey of life is undertaken alone. Yes, I know many of you will not agree with me. And you’ll argue that you have friends with you, and family, children, spouse… True! All these people are there in our lives. And they probably stand by us and give us support. But look deeper and you will realise, that in reality we always walk alone. Mind you, the word is ‘alone’ not ‘lonely’. There’s a huge difference between the two.

Some might find the journey lonely but that’s a different issue altogether. What I’m talking about is being ‘alone’. The major difference between the two is that in loneliness there is pain while in being alone there is joy or at least there’s no pain.

Gurudev says, ‘Alone to the Alone, all Alone’. If we understand this fundamental reality of life, life can be smooth sailing and far easier to handle. Unfortunately most of us fall into the trap of a support system. Not realising nor accepting that the journey is to be undertaken alone we live in the fallacy of the people around us being our co-travellers. Yes, they are our co-travellers but each on his own journey. In our life, we are alone. They will applaud, support, sympathise, empathise but the actual walking is to be done alone. Our experiences, the obstacles we meet, the failures we face, the successes we achieve are ours and ours alone. Others may empathise, hold our hand and pat our back but what we feel is ours alone. Be it the pain of a loss or the happiness of a gain, our feelings are ours alone.

So let's look within and seek our Self. Life will then be a joyous song and we will walk along, with a skip in our step. Let’s walk! Let’s walk alone!