Shades of Grey
Honestly, I get tired of being right. I mean, intuition and life saving instincts aside, I’d rather not see things coming. At least that way I wouldn’t feel so stupid for letting them happen anyway. That old saying about ignorance has always been right. When we’re young, the whole world is a blank slate that is open and inviting and warm. Back then there is nothing that seems unreachable, and when you look out from your door, all you see is the potential and hope waiting to be scooped up and spread like a flame in a dark room.
But age and experience takes that white slate and throws things at it. Loss. Heartache. Despair. Hunger. Wrath. Just to name a few of the simple ones. That’s the thing, that’s what ages us more than any of the other things we experience. Its not the horrible things that we learn, or see, or go through- no those are easy to accept and cope with. Its not the black hated villains that come into our lives and seem to take everything.
It’s the grey people that you trust and understand and- most of the time- Love. The people that you let in and them you. When they hurt you that’s the slow burn that sparks at your insides for years, never completely going away. And the thing you learn with age- many of us too soon- is that most of the people in your life, good and bad, are grey. And here's the thing about grey people:
You can't hate them. Plain and simple.
Maybe its because you'll always love them. Or because you understand them. Or because you feel sorry for them. I dunno, I guess the reasons are different for everyone. But the bottom line is, no matter how much they take, or do, you can't hate them. Maybe in the past, you've tried. You think that you have every right to. But like everything else in the world, its not that simple. Your memories muddle it a bit, and take some of the wind out of your sails. You realize time and again, that you wouldn't change your actions for anything. We live, we get hurt, we move on. All you can do is take the good with the bad- sometimes more of one than the other- and keep moving forward. One breath at a time. One step. Rinse and repeat until things start making sense again.
The world isn't in black and white. It never has been, we just don’t see it until we've been in it for a time. All we can do is live in it, while all the while it grows ever the murkier.
But age and experience takes that white slate and throws things at it. Loss. Heartache. Despair. Hunger. Wrath. Just to name a few of the simple ones. That’s the thing, that’s what ages us more than any of the other things we experience. Its not the horrible things that we learn, or see, or go through- no those are easy to accept and cope with. Its not the black hated villains that come into our lives and seem to take everything.
It’s the grey people that you trust and understand and- most of the time- Love. The people that you let in and them you. When they hurt you that’s the slow burn that sparks at your insides for years, never completely going away. And the thing you learn with age- many of us too soon- is that most of the people in your life, good and bad, are grey. And here's the thing about grey people:
You can't hate them. Plain and simple.
Maybe its because you'll always love them. Or because you understand them. Or because you feel sorry for them. I dunno, I guess the reasons are different for everyone. But the bottom line is, no matter how much they take, or do, you can't hate them. Maybe in the past, you've tried. You think that you have every right to. But like everything else in the world, its not that simple. Your memories muddle it a bit, and take some of the wind out of your sails. You realize time and again, that you wouldn't change your actions for anything. We live, we get hurt, we move on. All you can do is take the good with the bad- sometimes more of one than the other- and keep moving forward. One breath at a time. One step. Rinse and repeat until things start making sense again.
The world isn't in black and white. It never has been, we just don’t see it until we've been in it for a time. All we can do is live in it, while all the while it grows ever the murkier.
