The Two Types
While in the womb, I knew two types of people
One who had me within, nourished me and protected me
The other who was outside, spoke to me and waited for my arrival
When I was a baby, I knew two types of people
One who fed me, rocked me, cleaned me and loved me unconditionally
The other who visited me, played with me and despised me when I was messy
As an infant, I met two types of people
One who held my hand, ran to me when I fell, rewarded me on my every new step
The other who looked at me from far and compared me with some kid in the next block
When I went to school, I came across two types of people
One who encouraged me to be the best version of myself
The other who always wanted me to be like someone else
In college, I befriended two types of people
One with whom I felt responsible and hopeful of a better tomorrow
The other with whom I felt life has nothing much to offer
While at work, I came across two types of people
One who believed in making a difference at the work place with their presence
The other who always expected to be treated a certain way by others
Today, as an adult, I see two sides to myself
One, when I choose to be the optimistic, loving and happy self
The other, when I choose to be the criticizing, skeptical and helpless self.
Comments
This is excellent!
Thank You.
Thankfully, living a happy life doesn’t depend on your ability to solve those perplexing Rubik’s Cubes.
Absolutely Joe. I have never solved one. But then I am leading a happy life. It’s all about identifying the different colors and accepting those as just cubes painted with different colors. 🙂
Very interesting analysis of people’s reactions to you (and all of us). As Joe says, thankfully we don’t have to solve all the puzzles of why people are the way they are. We are free to choose our reactions to others.
Thank you Anneli. Yes, as long as we know that we are free to choose our reactions to others, the cube inside is solved.
I really like the way you have compared different people’s attitudes and behaviours in this poem – very clever. As we grow old it becomes easier to be ourselves and we care less what others think of us, but it is hard to be unaffected when you are young.
Wow, this is true on so many levels! And the saddest thing of all is how often we let the second kind of person dictate how we think of ourselves and how we treat ourselves.
Oh yes, we’ve all got our dual sides. It’s the nature of life isn’t it? Beautifully written.
Thank you .