Victory Takes Time

With eager eyes, I glanced at the doorway. I was expecting a piece of good news in the mail. Maybe the postman got delayed. I looked at the clock and started pacing. Looking at the gate now and again. Suddenly, the bell rang….

I jumped in excitement as I rushed to open the door. It was like a K3G movie scene. Now I know how Jaya Bachchan ma’am must have felt when Rahul a. k. a. Shahrukh Khan came home.

Anyway, I opened the gate and was overjoyed to receive the letter. The letter I was expecting since I dreamed of getting into this field. Proof that I have accomplished my dreams and my hard work has paid off.

With happiness and excitement, I opened the mail and all my joys turned into gloom and I became numb; the words reverberating in my ears…. Sorry; we have not selected you.

Now, I was all lost, an empty feeling crept inside me, and tears started rolling down my eyes.

The only thought my brain could come up with was…. You are not good enough.

Today, I am standing at a different gate with the same yearning in my eyes. This time prepared for any news. Not too excited and still not too sad. I got the message on my phone to check my mail.

A note that read: “I got in ma’am; thanks to all your efforts and encouragement,”

Sudden happiness crept in as I beamed at the text returning it with a big congratulatory note.

I sat on my portico, thinking of all the ordeals I worked through these five years. The day my dream shattered, the day I made a choice to carry on and the day I decided to push harder rather than giving up. 

Today, I learned, that your life will turn out in the manner it is supposed to be; you may stumble, you will face dead ends and it may take time, but you will land up where you belong. The only condition is to continue working and never give up.

Today I may not be the person who topped my exam, but I am the one helping others to realize their goals.

“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” ―Chuck Yeager