A Poem

Sitting alone one night. 3am & dusk outside, i wondered how school could affect my, thought to be "stubborn" mindset so much. Competition was a familiar feeling that lurked since my childhood. Competitive nature was a familiar attribute that i had spent many a summer day demonstrating.

Who would finish the monkey bars first? Who could swing the highest. 10 years later, I spend 6 hours a day at school, not the park, and yet my nature has not changed. Merely translated. It wasn't pressure to be the best, it was my driven incentive to win, be the best. be successful and fulfill all my aspirations. and that summer night, i pondered, truly what was success?

And I realized, if there was anything I wanted to tell my adolescent & obsessive self, it was this:

I was brought up in a society that taught me about wanting things, needing things, and showing off when i acquired these things. success meant Salary, and happiness came from green bills. Schools teach you to study & achieve grades that get you in that top band of achievers which later will lead on to the people who have a higher income therefore are more successful. And if they are successful they are happy.

But what if, success and happiness did not lie in relationships, money, or social statuses? What if success meant not getting amazing grades, but the fact that we are able to even go to school today.

What if happiness meant not buying a new house on an island, but realizing the fact that we're blessed with so much beauty on earth.

There are lungs that let you breathe, and legs that let you climb mountains, and it's a shame that people don't think that's enough. you got out of bed this morning. you winged your eyeliner perfectly. You flipped a pancake without dropping it.

i find that a success.

Who says it has to be work related, or school related. why can't I feel successful when I want to. why must it be comparative? So I say, hell with it. feel successful tying your shoe laces. don't derogate yourself. don't compare other people's highlights to your norm.

Because we're all just little specks of atoms, resembling something called humans, trying to define success in a tiny planet, that's enveloped in an infinite universe. so I think, if you have a "i love myself" attitude: that's a success story of its own, kid.

instagram: @ktki