This I Believe

He does not believe who does not live according to his belief. Dr. Thomas Fuller
If you cannot find the truth where you are, where else do you expect to find it? Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, denying them. Ralph Waldo Emerson
God is great, even the animals feel it. Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I BELIEVE that there is more to life than what we are or what we are not, what we could have been or what we still aspire to be, what we should have done or what we intend to do, what lies on the surface or what lurks underneath. I believe that there is more to life than just being, doing, wanting, hoping; taking the journey and enduring the ride, wishing upon a star and making things happen, getting over the humps and driving off into the sunset.


I believe that there is a thin shred that separates love from hate, right from wrong, good from evil, wisdom from madness, contentment from greed, happiness from loneliness. When does pride end and prejudice begin? Isn’t truth stranger than fiction? Is making sense more important than hurting another person’s sensibility? Is innocence the better part of worldliness? Can valor take the place of virtue? Doesn’t crime have a corresponding punishment?


I believe in love at first sight and the flightiness it endows the senses, the sweet smell of romance hovering in the air, the earthy thrill of adventure looming in the horizon, the bizarre sensation that is at once mesmerizing but altogether confounding. I believe in seizing the moment when it comes, taking the chance when it matters, breaking the chain when it cracks, mending the heart when it is broken, giving in and letting go when it is time.


I believe that the simplest things bring us the purest joy, and we need not look so far ahead to realize that the most wondrous pleasures are right there at our feet – within our reach, within our sight, just a fleeting glance away. In our insatiable thirst for worldly gain, we fail to notice that the most mundane situations are those that actually fill our spirits with bliss – touching a leaf, climbing a hill, running after sparrows, counting a rainbow’s colors, staring at the moon, rising with the sun, munching on chocolates, simply having fun.


I believe that there is one omnipresent, omnipotent God who hears every word uttered in supplication and bequeaths every human being with the unique gift of prayer. Without faith in our hearts, isn’t it a meaningless existence? We see blindly, and we trod along aimlessly. We get lost somewhere in the dark, and we grope our way out of it without purpose, weighed down with fear, almost consumed by panic. We sink into depths of wretchedness, and can we swim back to shore by our lonesome? Can we save our middling selves from the misery of our own cynicism?


I believe that there is more to life than meets the eye, and the heart invariably sees what the eyes usually don’t. We only need to look inside ourselves more often, to think more deeply and love more freely, to sing our lungs out and dance up a tempest, cry a little and laugh a lot, work hard and breathe easy, speak our mind and listen intently, walk with confidence and stand at attention, do what is right and hope for the best, never stop dreaming, just keep on believing.


Life is truly beautiful, and anything is infinitely possible, if we only believe.