Reciprocity

Reciprocity. It sustains the human soul, it gratifies the heart, it stirs a warmth within.

We crave to be reciprocated in every thought and action.

Yet often we give more than we receive ... even when we believe we seek not equal measures.

We love more than we are loved ... or so we think.

We hope more than what hope can give.

We imagine more than what reality constructs.

We expect more than what reason and rationality can provide.

And so we spend a lifetime waiting for the moments which we feel the exchange to be all worthwhile, and the gift which reciprocates in fullness. But more often than not, these moments rarely arrive. And with each fading hope, each failed attempt, each disappointment, each loss, we die a little inside.

Yet we convince ourselves that it is ok, that life moves on, and that there'd be future opportunities. Our youthful optimism is rekindled. We wander into imagination to hope further even when we know some things will never be. But we do so regardless.

This is the paradox of human nature - between memory and desire. We will always set ourselves up for a fall. We are addicted to pain and disappointment. Yet we are creatures of hope, desire and dreams. For without these hopes and aspirations, anticipations and expectations, life remains a meaningless monotony. Thrown into the throng of life we will always be struggling to accept reality or re-create it.

Which is the lesser of two evils?

I haven't found mine yet.


Post Script
And to the one who thinks winning is the only thing, your reality is lost. For by the very narrow definitions of success you have set yourself up for, you have always already lost. And for all your life you will feel like a loser ... because you choose to reject all other notions of success. Life often proves to us that we can never win ... not with absolute certainty, not for eternity.