A Million Little Pieces

She couldn't help but feel that the perfection of her life was slowly falling apart. The beauty and serenity of it had shattered into millions of lifeless shards. Before, everything had been sketched out perfectly, with utmost sureness, like the markings on a map. Her past, her present, her future. Everything.

And then, this happened. The best, the worst thing of her life. Everything changed, and she was left stumbling in the dark, caught between choosing happiness and sorrow when she couldn't even see which was which. Oh, the unfairness of it all. If she was given a chance, she might have chosen differently, but she knew that she would have stumbled in the dark either way. For, no matter the choice, she would always be discontent; left with wondering what would have happened if she had chosen the other path.

But soon, she understood. She understood that it is impossible to be content if we are always thinking about the different possibilities of different choices. For there are many futures - many, many futures. But we choose only one, and it is only by accepting this choice of ours, can we remain content in this world of many possibilities, many futures, and many choices.

And so, she decided. She knew that she could go on stumbling in the dark, wondering if she would have been happier if fate had taken a different turn. Or, she could be content, believe that this is the happiest she could get, and accept that given the choice again, she wouldn't choose any other way.

So, she put the shards back together, piece by piece, the millions of lifeless shards. Slowly, patiently, she built back, breathed life into them. And when she was done, she felt stronger than ever before.