Of Ink, Paper, and Words Unspoken, by Kalpesh Desai

The champion

I chose to write this as an affirmation that could be used by anybody who is shrouded in self doubt, or called a failure.

I've been a student of #NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) for over two decades now, and am a firm believer that everything exists inside of language. This poem is inspired by a NLP presupposition that states "there is no failure, only feedback", and I've used those lines in this poem.

How should we react when we hear accusations, or are told you’re not good enough? Especially when we believe we are in integrity.

Perhaps, instead of being defensive or offensive, if we were to listen, guage, shift gears and sift through all that noise and glean the nuggets of insight that would help you succeed. They criticize because they care. Ultimately, it’s your battle and you own that field. That noise you hear from those judges, advisers and antagonists, is not very different from that voice on your GPS.

Sometimes the home we build brick by brick may be broken, but the memories remain forever. And though paths may have part, there is no reason why we cannot cherish the time spent together.

You want to tell yourself that you don’t miss them, but you do. And those memories that linger remind you of how special it was. And that’s all you need to remember.

This is inspired by a NLP presupposition that states "We have all the resources we need". It's a very powerful place to stand in, because it places a demand on you to be resourceful when life comes at you from all directions.

Sometimes they don’t work. And that’s just the nature of relationships. We honor that we’ve lost, and cherish every person who had chosen to love you, even briefly, and keep them in our prayers.

Just because you no longer have it,

it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t there.

Sometimes being stuck in a dark place, a bad relationship, a bad job, a horrid situation, gets us stockholmed.

To the extent that these dark corners are where we find ourselves in our comfort zone. And then there’s the light.

You will find me there. Where it's shining.

Many a times, our wasted chances are a result of a list of reasons we carry, tucked away deep in our heart. What if we could reason with our reasons and take that chance. Would it have turned out differently? The lesson I've learnt is to examine any decision I've got to make, and imagine if in 10 years, I would consider that to be a "thank God I did it" or "what if I would have done it".

Perhaps happiness is to contend with a lot less "what ifs" than we have on hand.

So many of us fight our battles silently, sometimes our smiles belie our inner turmoil and pain. And all it takes is for us to be kinder to ourselves, and accept that we are in integrity, whole and complete, with all our flaws and imperfections. And it's then that we can choose to let our strength to shine through, and pull us past the finish line. And that's when we become relentless, bold and resilient. That's when we can write our own story. When they say "it was written", let it be known that it was you who wrote it.

When our journeys get separated, either through a relationship that didn't work out, or simply because we've moved on from this world, we keep resurfacing in their memories. Sometimes, it's a trigger that reminds one of all that went wrong in the relationship, or they could be tender moments that bring a smile to your face. Like the waft from the food served on the table next to years that remind you that used to be their favorite food. Or the way someone laughs, that makes you turn around because it sounds just like he or she used to.

May this poem and spokenword serve to remind you leave sprinkles of yourself that would bring a smile to their faces when they remember.

As we grow older, we realize what we could have done differently. How important the significant other’s expectations were, how we took things for granted, and the fact that the present becomes the past in the snap of a finger. That's time you can't get back. That's the time we could have loved differently.