Roses: These are for Me
“Love me tender, love me sweet.”- Elvis Presley
You see this kid right here? This guy had a heart on fire! He had the spirit to conquer the unknown, intelligence to listen and learn, and the patience to reflect and admire. He was someone I was proud of. Fighting valiantly for a long time, he did so well, but somewhere between here and there, he stumbled.
Again.
When you want something badly, you sacrifice. It’s universal law. With a glimmer in your eye, everyone notices. The focus is incredible, the commitment is unwavering, but the sacrifice, what will you sacrifice? How much Keegan? How much?!?
In the flow of life, you will fall and rise. Old lessons become new, and then old again. We live, love and grow. Yet the pain, the pain is the divider. They bookend our chapters waiting for us to evolve past them.
In my determination for my goals, I lost myself to the hustle and grind, and grinded I felt. Health and relationships eroded. Rest and relaxation were forsaken. Overdrive and adrenaline were all I knew. People mentioned the signs, but I wasn’t listening.
“If you quit now, won’t it fall apart?”
Well, I didn’t quit. And you know what?
When I finally reached my goal, I didn’t even enjoy it. I was exhausted and strung out. I felt like a ghost in the shell, just a shade of the original.
Watching the movie play back I think, “what an idiot!” I’m yelling at the screen like an episode of the Bachelor, “He did what? Not again!? CAN’T HE SEE HE’S WRONG?!?”
Well, c’est la vie.
As I write by cold pool on a warm afternoon, I’d like to say I did finally remember those roses. I woke from my daze noticing cobwebs and dirty dishes everywhere.
Time to clean house.
Open the windows, scrub the floors, bleach the stains. A fresh scent followed, coconuts and sea breeze. Lovely.
My mind is resilient and so is my spirit. They can bend and twist, be beaten need be, but survive and heal, they will. I hope the future is listening. I’d like a longer chapter where the happiness reigns. I feel a new one has already begun.
“Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”- Alfred