So, What’s it Gonna Take?

I used to call them, “the velvet ropes,” and regard people like this as the lucky ones. I regarded people like this as the fortunate and the pretty people who seemed to get by on their looks.
I resented them as well. Or more,
I suppose I wished i was more like them.
Desired. Regarded.
Alive and well in the fashions of New York City.

I suppose the background for the “velvet ropes” title came to me when I was a younger man.
I saw them all, the pretty and the so-called elite.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

It is early on a Sunday.
The clouds decided to show themselves this morning. Then again, the weatherman tells us about a storm that’s supposed to come. I heard the news say the storm is on its way from the northeast.
And that means this could be a bad one.
But I don’t mind.

Great things happen in the rain.
Days like this can be great to create memories.
I know.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

Love this life. Please.
Love it with all you can. Love this like it was your last hope and abandon all else that comes before you or gets in your way. Trust me or hear me.
Let this ring out like a plea from the bottom of my heart.
Risk everything. Risk it all. I swear.
Even if this means you will lose, or that you’ll lose it all.
Risk it anyway.

The hours can change and so can our fate.
The mood can change, and the weather can turn.
Anything can happen.
Anything at all.
So, please . . .
With all I have, I beg you.
Love this life.
Please.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

We all come to this world in the same way. We are all shipped in similar packages and equipped with mild to moderate differences.
I agree that no one is the same. I agree that we are all unique in our own way.

At the same time, we all live and breathe. Some of us are more fortunate. And some people will live with challenges that no person should have to face. Some have obvious talents that go beyond compare and others have skills that are less seen or less known.

It has been said to me that nice guys finish last. I often wonder if this is because nice guys realize that they don’t need to win the race.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

I suppose this is written as a means of survival.
But in fairness to the means, I realize that not everyone survives . . .
or wants to.

At best, I think that it is only fair for either of us to realize the following. There are times when there is nothing anyone can do.
Nothing can be done, except endure.
In which case, all we can do is keep going.
Keep moving. Keep trying.
Keep looking for the chance to switch or improve your position.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

There was a night in my twenties that went long, or at least longer than usual which was not unusual to say the least. At the same time, this night was no different from any other weekend night.
I was young and wild and crazy. I was trying to find my way, which was blurry and unsure.
I was me, timid and trying not to be.

I assume I could have called this a moment of clarity. Or maybe a memory of a time when was my soul’s ability to foreshadow allowed me to realize that life is going to change.
Or at least I hoped.
Nothing lasts forever. Age happens. Life happens.
And the certainty of life is both inevitable and eventual.

Life is a trip.
It’s a ride. That’s for sure.

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So, What’s It Gonna Take?

I have no idea what will come today. Other than the mail despite its contents, or other than the alarm that rings at the same time in the morning, and other than the schedule at work or the time of my morning train, —I have no idea what today brings. And even still, among the so-called things that I think I know, I understand that all things can and will be subject to change.
The world can fall from its perch at any given moment. The phone could ring, or not.

Any one thing can go in either direction.
I suppose.
Or for example, a smile can fade into a frown, or frowns can resolve themselves and turn the other way.
Anything can happen. Right?
Okay, then.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

I am not sure if I am tested or it has been proven that I am fit for battle. I only know what I have seen. Then again, I know what I can’t see or what I hate to see.
I know there are sounds that the heart, mind, and soul are not fit to withstand. I know there are cries, like the screams of a child in pain, or the pleas that we hear from a child when all they want is the pain to go away.
We are not intended for the sights, like a child laying still or seemingly lifeless with their parents sitting outside of the emergency room, helpless as ever.

We are not built for this
But we see this all the time.

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So, What’s it Gonna Take?

Do you want to know the answer?
Sometimes the answers are simple. I swear it is.
Sometimes the answers are free, and oftentimes, the answers are right in front of us.
As in, “right here,” and right in front of our eyes.

We have to look though. We have to open our eyes if we are going to see the highlights and understand life in true color.

But rest assured, the answers are out there.
Butterflies. Random patches of rainbows that appear like a patch in the sky, sitting just off to the right of the sun and beaming through a cloud.
This is like an eye of the soul who watches over us through a hole in the sky.

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