A Little Story

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

One day I opened my closet to find that my favourite, most treasured and beloved cashmere sweater had been uncontrollably attacked my moths. There were holes here and holes there. There was absolutely nothing to do about it.  I put so much value into this one piece that when it was ruined, even taken away from me, I was more upset than I had been over any other ruined cashmere sweater. Then another day I opened my closet to find an old pair of jeans. Out of style and discoloured, I threw them away - later to realize that they had so much more meaning to me than any cashmere sweater.

I always get more upset over the things that I cannot control but fail to realize that what hurts me more is made capable only by my own doing. Always searching for the 'perfect' thing, I forget that what makes something 'perfect' is its ability to be flawed. Every pair of jeans and every cashmere sweater has the capacity to be important in my life, I just tend to linger on the prettier of the pair (and more critically, the one that doesn't want me). I think that what makes us who we are is the decisions that we make and how we learn from everything that we do. I think that we need to realize that much of the pain that we suffer stems from our own hands. And I think that we need to appreciate that pair of jeans in the moment because throwing them away can the most painful thing we could ever do.

Even though I have said it myself, will I be able to apply it to my actual life?  Will I be able to forget about the things that have been taken from me and focus on those that I take for granted?


About the photo: I dream of one day having a library of books because right now all I want to do is escape into a brilliant story.