Friday, August 31, 2012

How do you know?


How do you know what is a dream if you never accomplished one? How do you know what is an adventure if you never took part in one? How do you know what is anguish if you never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears? How do you know what is being desperate, if you never arrived in a place alone and could not understand a word of what everyone else was saying? How do you know what is diversity if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world? How do you know what is tolerance, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it. How do you know what is an opportunity, if you never caught one? How do you know what is pride, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished?. How do you know what is to seize the day, if you never saw the time running so fast? How do you know what is a friend, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones. How do you know what is a family, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally? How do you know what is autonomy, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself? How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stopped being a child to start a new course? How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it? How do you know what is distance, if you never, looking at a map, said “I am so far away”? How do you know what is a language, if you never had to learn one to make friends? How do you know what is patriotism, if you never shouted “ I love my country” holding a flag in your hands? How do you know what is the true reality, if you never had the chance to see a lot of them to make one. How do you know what are borders, if you never crossed yours, to see what there was on the other side? How do you know what is imagination, if you never thought about the moment when you would go back home? How do you know the world, if you have never seen it through the eyes of a true citizen?

3 comments:

  1. Dearest Perry,

    Wow! An entire paragraph consisting of questions only! Welcome to adulthood.

    I have a coworker (a chemical engineer) who is always asking "Why," about everything. Then, when he get the answers, they usually merely prompt more questions; at which point he pronounces that, "At least we are now confused on a higher plane."

    When your parents left Knoxville, and a large group of us had dinner at the now non-existent Grady's on the now Parkside Drive (formerly Trucker's Lane), my toast was (paraphrased), "Distance is not miles, it's an abstract concept. We will never let distance keep us apart."

    Keep that in your heart, because your family is always with you, no matter where they (or you) are.

    WRL

    ReplyDelete
  2. :D thank you so much for this! I am so glad you read it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am the first person to admit to NOT having many answers. Like you, too many questions. In my brain about that many questions spring forth from the so-called answers that come my way.

    Beautiful questions. :0)

    ReplyDelete