“ There is often less danger in things we fear than the things we desire”- Lupin

Long ago, someone told me what you are asking for may not be good for you that is why you don’t get it. I was a teenager and just could not agree. I am entitled to everything I want, I thought. Typical teen behaviour.

As I grew, I realized the potentiality of that statement. Our desires, can, sometimes lead us to dangerous things. Starting from drugs to defrauding people because we want to make quick buck have tragic endings. What we desire may cause us more harm than we envisage because they may give us fleeting joy but can lead us to an abysmal pit of depression and fatal diseases. Duryodhan wanted to be the king at any cost and where did he end up? He did not fear the righteous path and it led to his humility and ultimately his death. King Yayati wanted eternal youth. After living for two hundred years, he realized how wrong he was. Voldemort wanted to be immortal. He ended up killing himself.

Our elders always said beware of what you wish. It may come true. This is exactly what they meant. I want to be a millionaire at any cost so I shall compromise my integrity, my honesty and lose my self-esteem in the long run but I have to make that money. So where does it lead to?

On the other hand what we fear deters us from taking that path of convenience. Whether it is our family, friends or our spouse, we don’t do so many things just thinking what will they say? That keeps us from taking a deviating step. It keeps our conscience alive, our mind focused on what is important to us in the ultimate analysis.

Even when you are in deep depression, your choice of right and wrong may guide you. That inner voice is always there if you care to listen. A mother of young children may feel overwhelmed and may want to run away wishing a carefree life but she doesn’t because she knows she cannot abandon her children. She knows what she desires is more dangerous than her reality.

Life has many crossroads and we have to make choices all the times. What we fear can nudge us in the right direction and what we want can lead us to unending miseries. How we end up depends on what we choose

So be it!!!