Fast

Here is part of my writing prompt for today: Fast


I think this might be the start of a really fun adventure story! So watch this space as I might be adding on to it.

Fast

I never had been a believer in those game-themed parties. What a waste of time and energy bringing a group of friends together, who hadn’t seen each other in years, just to set them off against each other. This one particular game, Fast, had become so popular that it was varied every year. Initially, it was a matter of how fast one could eat, or run, or get from Kurnell to Kempsie. Then it progressed to a bit more sophistication with the creative objective of how fast one could make-believe kill everyone else in the group whilst travelling across town in search of so-called treasure. It had caught on and had become so popular that very soon there was a Fast themed game in every town. For my sorry bunch of friends, it was one way of my making memories, I suppose, but mainly it was my only chance to see Lance, of course. So I would go along. And I would participate in these mundane and useless charades. If I could edge a word or two in, while everyone was busy trying to win a hopeless race, then to me that had to be victory even though it meant that I would always lose out on the prize. Neither had I known nor cared for some crummy prize. If I could get Lance to actually look at me and respond to a question or two, then I would later be driving back home feeling like the queen of the world. And if he dared smile at me, it would make my heart cartwheel for days and days after. Lance was a huge fan of Fast and had even become a member of the Fast fan group on Facebook. Of course, I had to become a member too. So whilst I despised and secretly ridiculed these games, the stalker in me had actively been seeking them out. These annual come quarterly get-togethers were something I had a love-hate relationship with. Something I would both wish for and dread at the same time. And then by some strange sequence of events, that were absolutely uncalled for and definitely unplanned, I won. Things took quite a different turn in my life since that day.

Ode to 'Wisdoms' Gone By

O Wisdom, your name!
You send notions of splendour,
with due respect and fame,
rarely met with real candour.

Four corners you strain,
at the point of a finger,
and a thought so lame,
"Why am I borne?" you wonder.

Your short lived acclaim,
stays through your peers - much grander,
but never the same
will your end be any kinder.

An end with no maim,
a mouth no less slender,
an end with no shame,
not even of murder.

Once thought of as game
to dispose of, like a vendor
who calls to proclaim,
invitation to tender.

O Wisdom, you came,
cutting through from way way under,
your words far from tame,
far from idle, far from banter.

Now you're just a frame,
can't lean on - you've gone tender,
a real tooth (exclaim!)
you're found in any gender.

The dentist proclaimed today that the best solution for the deep cavity lying beneath an already partially cemented and fairly subdued existence of a wisdom tooth was extraction. The words sent shudders through my root canal. 

My wisdom teeth have had their share of varied opinions from the haves and have-nots of extraction. There were those who saw it as affording itself the right to exist just by having gone through the effort of breaking through my gum surface and sitting in an egalitarian sense beside a 'regular' tooth, ready to observe its dental duties just like any other tooth. There were others who just saw it as another nuisance of a wisdom tooth that had to be destroyed forever more lest it should do future harm to the teeth nearby. In the end my gentler notions gave in, mostly due to my fear of dentists, injections and anything related. And over the years I never ever thought of these four 'pearlies' as my wisdom teeth. They were just like any other. When someone would speak about their wisdom tooth needing extraction, I would smile smugly and say that I still have mine and it was a case of till death do us part. There were occasions when I did have to visit the dentist for a sanity check - my teeth's that is. But so far it had always been more than one lucky fluke for these wisdom teeth of mine. No dentist had uttered the words extraction since my teens and the dentists I saw went about their tasks of cementing and filling in cavities that they were meant to bear. Of course, until today. 

It seems that everything does have to come to an end. My love affair with my wisdoms was under cut-throat-knife threat. The dentist stood there and bluntly gave me my two options. Root canal, treatment then crown if there is anything left of the tooth by then (he said casually) or extract it and forget about it forever (again casually). Shamelessly and without a shred of hesitation it was the instant judgement of: death of a tooth. And almost immediately, I felt its traits come alive. Don't call me tooth. Call me by my name. I'm nothing but a wisdom, shunned and unloved destined to an end, sometimes even before its begun. Momentary guilt pangs were no sooner than washed away. 

Finally, I can say that I am removing my wisdoms! And while the other three remaining wisdoms will mourn its loss in 2 weeks time when I am due to visit my evil dentist, I am sure that the only thing that will remind me of the missing wisdom is the post-mortem pain from the surgery. Perhaps a roaming, wandering tongue too...

Be Who You Want to Be

There comes a time when all you want to do is just find a way to realise the person within you. A nagging sensation that pokes at the corners of your mind will not relent until you do. Distractions are just that and you look at them as time wasting exercises. And anything else that you find yourself engaged in only weighs your heart down further. When that happens there really is only one thing to do. There really is only one way out of this because ignoring it will do nothing more than to exacerbate it further. You need to follow that unadulterated notion and set it free.

The cynics out there might frown and wag their fingers. Impulse can be risky business but so can an unfulfilled life; living to be only half the person that you are.

A job can be one of two extremes - no in-between - it is that dramatic. At one end, a job can be nothing more than the ordinary meaning of the word and a means of gaining one's livelihood. It is that circle of comfort that is stretched every now and then to expand your skills and knowledge but, always, remaining within the confines of that circle. That is what we were taught growing up - get a good job and enjoy the comforts of life. Most jobs falls into this category, even those jobs that feign promises of career glory and progression. I have seen it happen over again, the bright spark wanes and you find yourself settling into your circle. That is usually the reason why most people move on.

At the other end of the scale, a job can be the means to make you explore never-ending avenues of innovation within yourself, as a person and as an individual. The job stops being just a job and instead metamorphosises into a personal goal to allow you to give it all that you can. It is all about personal ownership, being the best that you can and making your job the best that there is. When that happens, know that you have crossed the fine line of being, breathing and feeling entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship does not have to be viewed in the black or white sense of starting your own business. Instead, it is a concept and a way of approaching your life and career goals. Ones which you can realise in any sort of environment that you find yourself in. When creativity and ideas, bursting at the seams, yearn to be brought to life, you know that there is no better time. Just be who you want to be; who you need to be. If the circle that you find yourself in becomes nothing more than a limitation, expand and distort it to allow it to fulfill your ideals. And failing that, channel your own path. Here or elsewhere.

I will caveat all this and say that the life of an entrepreneur is not meant to be easy. There will be challenges and brick walls that slam you in the face but think of the alternative. Once you have set foot on that path there truly is no turning back to a life half fulfilled. The setbacks and challenges that you will encounter will multiply your resolve and provide you with energy to encourage you to persist beyond your expectations. That is what realising dreams is all about. It becomes a  matter of survival to be the person whom you were always meant to be.