A walk in the dark

There are times when it's good to be alone with your thoughts. There are others when it is not. Like tonight. Perhaps it was a sense of deja vu. I was walking home alone on a dark stretch of road when my wind began to wander.

When I was in university I had the almost perversely incredible opportunity to travel to the Far East. I was naive, wide-eyed and filled with the unbridled ambition of youth. I was alone in Hong Kong, without any of the comforts of home. I was smart. A risk taker. And an adventurer. Who the fuck voluntarily chooses to go to Hong Kong? I'd already hiked the Andes for g-d's sake. I might be the next Christopher Columbus. I remember one night, purposely breaking from my circle of friends there, and finding my way to one of my favourite places, the Kowloon promenade, overlooking the majesty of the South China Sea, the skyline of downtown Hong Kong rising from it like a modern-day Atlantis. As the warm, salt-scented breeze coarsed through my hair, and the sea trembled beneath me, I was filled with a feeling of omnipotence, unlimited power. The world was my oyster, and nothing could stop me. It almost felt like my soul opened up and inhaled all that was positive and good in the world.

Those are, as an example, good times to be alone with your thoughts.

Then there are times when it's not. Where instead of opportunities lie roadblocks, and instead of achievements lie failures. I think the art to leading a happy life is to temper the inspiration found in both. To ignore the bad thoughts is folly, akin to applying a band-aid to a flesh wound. And to revel in the positive thoughts can lead to disappointment.

I sound like a fortune-cookie writer tonight - I apologize, but I felt like I finally needed to write an honest post.