What Is your Name, Life?

Everyone has, at least once in their lifetime, tried to explain themselves to others—so that people don't change the perspective or image they have of them in their minds.

But now, explain yourself for what exactly?

Maybe to hide your mistake.

Or maybe there wasn't even your mistake, but people mistook you for the one at fault.

Maybe you're explaining yourself because you reacted differently in front of people who had never seen that side of you before.

And maybe there are many more reasons.

But my question is—do you really have to change yourself to blend in with people? To become untrue to yourself just so others continue to see you the same way?

What do we actually get by doing so?

What good does it give us to keep changing ourselves according to our surroundings?

Why can't you just be true to yourself?

Why can't people accept a person as he or she is?

Who even sets all these standards in the first place?

And why should one follow them?

Maybe because people don't like those who are true to themselves.

They fear people who cannot be told what to do.

They fear people who cannot be controlled by them.

They fear that being around you might somehow bring a bad influence into their lives.

And so, they leave you out.

Honestly, maybe that's what true peace is.

When you are no longer living for the sake of others and finally start living for yourself.

It can be lonely.

But you learn to grow on your own.

You learn to depend on yourself more.

You learn that being alone doesn't always mean being lonely.

Maybe that's just another part of growing up.

A human being often lives three lives.

The first begins when we are born. We know nothing about the world. We are just little kids with no worries, no responsibilities, and no idea what life is going to become.

Then comes the second life.

We grow enough to go out into the world, and somewhere along the way, we realise that all that joy we once had is slowly disappearing.

Life starts getting serious.

Responsibilities start coming in.

And that's when you realise that you are no longer a child.

You can't be carefree anymore.

You have to understand things you never thought you would have to understand.

You have to make decisions.

You have to become someone the world expects you to be.

And then comes another life.

The life after marriage.

The life where you have to live not only for yourself, but also provide for the family you have created.

You carry responsibilities.

You keep moving forward.

You keep doing what needs to be done.

And honestly, after you have lived through all of it, maybe one day you finally stop and look back.

You remember how far you have come.

You remember the person you once were.

You remember the mistakes.

The people.

The moments.

The things you survived.

And maybe you ask yourself—

Can I go back and do all of this again?

But this time, with the knowledge I have now?

So I can fix everything?

So I can avoid the mistakes?

So I can finally live the life I wanted?

But then you realise...It's done now.

You can't go back.

All you have is the life you lived and the person you became through it.

So what should I call this journey of mine?

What should I tell someone about it?

I hope I can tell someone how I lived.

How many things I survived.

How I managed to get here.

I hope I can share my life with someone.

But then I wonder—What should I name it?

Should I even name it?

Who knows if others think like this too?

Do they also want to share their life story?

Do they also look back and wonder how they ended up here?

Do they also wonder what their journey means?

Maybe every person has a story.

Maybe every person has a life that cannot be completely explained to someone else.

Maybe we spend our entire lives trying to explain ourselves to others...

Only to realise, in the end, that the only person who truly lived that life was us.

So if I had to give my journey a name...

Maybe I wouldn't name it after a person, a place, a moment, or a memory.

Maybe I would simply ask the life itself—

What Is Your Name, Life?