Chapter 37: A Tale Of Two Faces

Dear readers,

A tale of two faces, both completely different. One face seeks to spare, the other to destroy. All of us will encounter these faces, some innocent, some not so innocent and some so far from innocent you wonder whether certain people are simply monsters, unable to feel any emotions.

Life is a struggle. Those hard times where you just have to look up to God and pray for a break. Putting your heart and soul into breathing life into your dreams so that they become real. You look around for the people whose shoulders to cry on when the grind gets tough, your ears eager to hear words of wisdom to help set you on the right path. But what faces do you really see? Does the person in front of you have a face pure in its intentions to help you or do you see a mask, concealing the true face, a face of deception, hypocrisy, a face that would gladly see you fail but one that would turn glum upon you rising up against the adversity.

To put it simple, does the person in front of you emit a red aura and have horns coming out their heads or does that person have a white aura with a halo glowing just above their head. It can be hard to work out which way the cookie crumbles but through their actions, you might be able to work out which of the people near you need to be kept near and which need to kept far away from you. Life is hard, get used to it because every now and again, a spanner will be thrown into the works to cause you problems, forcing you to think about how to resolve the problems. The angels in your life may not have the answers but they will console you, try to understand your situation and make it seem like you’re finding the tide all by yourself. The angels find the positives amongst the swamp of challenges in your way, motivate you to conquer all the challenges, your head up high with confidence knowing that their backs are covered if the worst happens. Most importantly though, at times it might seem like they’re being a nuisance to you, keep them close because at the end of the day, they want the best for you, even when you yourself can’t see what’s good for you.

The devils though are different. Instead of playing a part in your ascension, they’ll be plotting your downfall, ready to laugh at you with glee at the sight of you looking more miserable and more pathetic than Cinderella being bullied by her ugly step-sisters. The devils might seem like they’re helping when in fact, they’re doing the opposite. They are the ones guiding you into the path of banana skins on the track rather than out of their way, I mean who does that, how horrible a person do you have to be to want someone to fail. Jealousy? Hatred? Contempt? A lack of fulfillment? Almost anything could trigger someone you know to turn on you. It’s scary to think that even close friends and family could even turn into devils when you only though of them as angels. The future is uncertain, those there riding with you may not be taking the same ride as you in the future, people move on with new people filling the voids.

So with that in mind, choices have to be made in this tale of two faces. Which faces are the ones you’re meant to discard? Which faces are the ones meant to be cherished? It’s not as easy as it sounds, people not only move on but they change too. One minute, they could be distant, emotionally unattached to you with their own goals on their own path but the next minute, everything could change and suddenly, they become your ride or dead against the world, your heart beats perfectly synced as your paths merge together to become one. Do you cherish their presence or do you curse the day you even met them, this is clearly a tale packed with dilemmas and with that come cliffhangers to keep you on your toes, emotions racing as you struggle to keep a calm head. Ultimately for those clinging on the edge of the cliff, the angels glowing white will drag them over the edge and back to safety while the devils burning red will stand there and watch you slowly lose your grip and fall to your demise.

Perhaps a lesson to be learned here is to keep friends close and your enemies closer so that when your enemies cast their eyes on you, they’ll wither like a dying plant seeing you shine bright like a diamond. Perhaps reading this, you yourselves feel like the dying plant because someone you wanted to see fail is shining brightly. Is it spite blackening your heart or a feeling of unfairness that they get to shine but you don’t or it could be something else. Who knows, maybe after reading this, you might be able to turn over a next leaf………

Dr. R

Chapter 8: The Lessons Of Life

Dear readers,

First of all, The Doc would like to warmly say Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers, mums, moms, mummies, mommas and not forgetting you grandmas too. It’s the sort of day where positive vibes surge all around you, where happiness is around every corner and where money suddenly goes flying out of your pocket and into the gleeful hands of florists all over the world. The person that went through pain beyond belief to bring you into this world gets to bask in the light of recognition as she is made dear and she is appreciated as if she is royalty. Despite the celebrations, there is still an agenda for ‘Dr. R’ to cover, namely the lessons of life that we must try to learn from.

As The Doc has said before, you must fail first in order to succeed, if you bypass the failure and success fails upon you without hardship or disappointment, Lady Luck must have been on your side but the reality is most of the time it won’t be so easy. There are lessons littered around everywhere, clear as day and opaque as darkness but the scattering of learnt lessons can be at times rather erratic, you see, lessons are like snowflakes, no two are exactly the same meaning you should expect lessons to come in all different shapes and sizes. However, the way we cope with these lessons are more important because the better we learn from these lessons, the stronger you will grow as a person. Mistakes for e.g. are lessons because you will learn how not to replicate that same mistake, sometimes it takes practice, patience, understanding and time to master but eventually, you may master this lesson. Here is a scenario to help you visualise this type of lesson, say you get yourself drunk and by drunk, take it as absolutely hammered, take note that vodka is The Devil’s work, fail to respect it and you will feel no mercy. Getting home at God knows what time, with angry parents demanding to know what you’ve been up to is an uncomfortable experience, especially if you’re not in control of yourself. This is a lesson of not getting yourself trashed like those tramps from Geordie Shore.

Another lesson is that of improvement, to be better than you were before, to evolve into a breed stronger than the previous breed. This requires skill, if you do not have the understanding to upgrade, you simply won’t make the step up so unless you work harder, strive higher, leap further, run faster, fly higher or whatever way you can think of, improvement will continue ghost you, maybe right before your eyes without you knowing. The unique qualities of these lessons mean no two people will have the same composition of tasks to pass but with strength comes numbers so take any advantage to help others as well take advantage of assistance from others.

These are but two examples but there are plenty more with abundance like the air we breathe, in time, the metaphoric metal detector will be needed to unearth those lessons that apply to you. The lessons of life can be sparse as they are plentiful but whatever is written into destiny, don’t forget a slice of humble pie will take you far in life, it is the little things that sometimes mean the most.

‘Dr. R’