2023: a story of half-ways
Today, the sun was hiding partly and shyly among the brave clouds that have conquered the sky for the past few days. Not only the sun that was hiding half-way during the day. As the rightful Emperor of the Day, the sun was skillfully defeated by the grey clouds together with their wet companions.
Such a half-life in the fate of today’s sun was not a singular story that you will encounter in this post. I must warn you, though, that this post is concerned with a story of half-ways.
When the grey clouds that held the throne of the day finished their campaign of the day, the evening naturally (and perhaps curiously) joined them. Indeed, the evening’s natural appearance was expected by one.
However, the evening’s curiosity was unexpected. The evening’s awaited calm darkness was, unfortunately, disturbed by a power greater than what it had experienced in the preceding calendars. Oftentimes this year, the dark clouds once again dethroned the Queen of the Night.
This act of quiet violence undoubtedly resulted in how the moon appeared half-heartedly for the evening. The curiosity of the evening was ostensibly imposed on it. Its curiosity, once again, was unexpected.
This was mainly because, like many things in our life, such curiosity came about without provocation. The evening was curious as to why its curiosity suddenly appeared — albeit briefly. One might think that the evening’s curiosity occurred out of the blue because of some illogical factors such as falling in love with a person one has just met.
No. The factor that affected the evening’s curiosity was, in fact, very logical in one’s eyes.
Alas, what one finds logical could very well mean illogical for another.
The evening’s curiosity was partial. In a sense, it knew from the beginning that its curiosity would eventually appear. Nevertheless, deep down it also knew that such acknowledgment might mean learning something completely new.
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Doing something one has never done before. Discovering places. Meeting new individuals. Facing the uncharted parts of its life. These things are indeed frightening. Most people are not wired to willingly accept new things.
Uniquely, as much as we would like to avoid them, changes are the only constant pulse in our lives — no matter who and what you are.
If — “when” should be the more fitting word — we struggle to deal with changes, things in our lives would only be half-ways.
Much like the Day and the Evening’s half-way experiences, 2023 was a year full of such stories. A year when one’s expectations, journeys, and stories neither completed, fulfilled, nor concluded. They all only reached half-ways. If it were part of an Olympic, such a failure to complete the expectations, the journeys, and the stories would not be even in the top 10.
We, however, must not forgo the fact that this year was full of half-way or incomplete stories.
Ignore the incomplete or the half-way parts.
Focus instead on the stories you managed to experience. Reflect on the journeys you (un)successfully underwent, things you learned along the way. Review the expectations you drawn up throughout the 12 months, not to focus on the failures, but as a sign of maturity.
Much like the preceding paragraphs, this is sadly where this post ends. You may think that the post is only half-way done. Where is the grand conclusion? Where is the climax?
Well, you have been warned that this is concerned a story of half-ways. One must follow through one’s warning.
It is one’s full expectation that this half-way post has managed to accompany your last few days of 2023.
It is also one’s complete hope that the following year(s) would be full of completed expectations, journeys, and stories. Until then.
