WXY 3

¹“But sometimes I am miserable, dad. ²Even when I try my best to keep a smile, everything just fails.” ³“I know it’s hard, my child.” ⁴“But I feel so ungrateful, because I am alive, and I am healthy.” ⁵“That’s okay. ⁶It is not a sin to admit that life is hard, even for the luckiest of us.” ⁷“But I don’t know what to do. ⁸Please, dad, tell me how to stop the pain.” ⁹“It’s okay to not know. ¹⁰When your knowledge defeats you, there is nothing to do but have faith.” ¹¹“But I can’t take it. ¹²My mind and body and soul disagree and pull me apart in different directions.” ¹³“Then pray.” ¹⁴“What?” ¹⁵“Yes, my child.” ¹⁶“How would I do that? ¹⁷Are you saying I should have blind faith?” ¹⁸“Oh, not exactly, my child, although I think you’re beginning to understand. ¹⁹Sometimes when nothing feels right, all you can do is look out at the universe, and ask for mercy. ²⁰I know it’s hard, and it’s not fair, not at all, I’m sorry. ²¹And you can suppress it and run from it and hide from it all you want. ²²But until you are able to face pain and gaze into its eyes, you will never truly be free from it.” ²³“But I regret what I’ve done, and it haunts me.” ²⁴“I know what it’s like, my child, and there is no worse feeling. ²⁵But those moments are gone, and you can only move forward. ²⁶It is easy to worry about what could or would or should have been, and such things are human, but they are not real, no, not quite as real as the birds or the trees. ²⁷There are only decisions, and there are consequences. ²⁸But don’t be too hard on yourself either, because you can only learn from your world, and your world can only be a result of all that you’ve done. ²⁹And it might get worse, but it will get better, I promise. ³⁰I won’t tell you how to live your life, because your life is yours alone, but please be kind, because pain can be contagious. ³¹But you will be kind, I’m sure of it, my child, because just as I have faith in the universe, I have faith in you, too, and that’s why I brought you into this world.”