Lost in society

“You were never born. They never let you to born.”

“Son, who you want to be, when you grow up?”

“Albert Einstein”

“Great doctor”

“Engineer”

“Scientist”

“Ronaldo”

“Prime minister”

These used to be the replies when we were little kids. We did have different and vast visions.  We didn’t know what doctor means, nor we knew how to be a doctor, but as we saw a doctor dressed in fancy clothes, driving a luxurious car, each time praised by our parents and we made a mindset “I will be a doctor.”

We were the birds flying freely in the open sky. We had great dreams. Really great. We had the eagerness to make man fly in air, to make great discoveries, to earn huge amount of money, to lead the country, to be a great businessman, to be the best soccer. We were unknown to this world.

Whatever we used to see, we didn’t observe, we just saw it without any filter.

But, as we grew up, we became more and more familiar with this wordly living. We became conscious of where we were.

We started to be mature. And then, slowly our dreams narrowed. Although our interests expanded, real interests narrowed. We started to see change. We metamorphosed. We tried to fit in the society. We, then, began to think as the rest thought. We wore, as others were wearing. We listened to the music, which others were listening. We discovered our hobbies as others were having.

We got to know new places, that were visited centuries ago. We saw an old face but didn’t recognize it. We didn’t see a known face in stranger land, rather we saw a stranger face in known land. We followed the others.

Our likes and dislikes were conditioned by others. Anyhow, we made an escape and went to fit timidly in the society. Our dreams changed, aspirations changed. We lost ourselves. We chased through the path, that had been paved by others.

We were not “we”. Neither we were “them”. Tragedy is, we were no one. We were neither at this bank, nor at the other. We were at the middle of a river, on a small boat. Even it was rented. We didn’t have the guarantee of our living. Flood would destroy us anytime.

Time passed so quickly that we even didn’t realize we were changed. We even didn’t get to know where we were standing.

We did, what others said and asked for their own benefits. We became what others wanted to see us. We didn’t take risks. We feared of others. We feared to stand alone. We feared to hear our inner callings. We feared of everything. We were lost-Lost in the society.

And eventually, we saw an old man with white hair in the mirror and realized we played it safe. Life was over.

Then, we just did a single task- regret! Regret of following the crowd blindly, regret of not doing what we could do, regret of not being true to ourselves, regret of craving, regret of not taking risks, regret of playing it safe, regret of choosing.

In a nutshell, we regretted of not living the life that we have always dreamed of. We didn’t live at all. For the whole life, we followed and followed and followed.

And at the deathbed, we made a single wish “I may go back to relive my lost life again.”