I'm young.

 I've only been living on this earth, in this life, for a decade and a half. Every night, I look at the stars freckled across the dark sky and feel the moons rays caressing my dimple crested cheeks, and it never ceases to catch my breath. I feel the quiet moments as if they're new every night; enjoying the little moments that may be the last or first of many. I've learned that lives can end all of a sudden. That although one is young, there is a chance that they will stay young and never get the chance to grow old. The amount of times that I can travel around the sun is numbered and the expiration date could be now or ten years from now or fifty years from now.All these dates are up for grabs. Curiosity seems to be shut down earlier and earlier. The young are told by the old to stop dreaming and be practical. Society is making its ultimate focus on fame and fortune and forgetting everything in between. The spark is lost and the darkness prevails when society's standards aren't met. The young are giving up and headlines are being raised; haunting the newspapers with stories of train tracks and battle axes that end the magic of those who had so much more to offer but were told that they were not good enough against the competition planted in their minds and poisoning their thoughts. 

i've learned that to take chances are important. To do all the things that scare every bone in your body are the ones that are going to move you over the obstructive mountains put in your way. To go off of the paved path to take a rockier one that is not advised will lead to excitement and happiness. To risk everything for something give it all the more reason to succeed and to make mistakes is the only way to move forward. To question authority will make you succeed and improve the things that you feel as though you have no say in and that to take one step toward the right direction will be followed by a march to something better.

I've learned that darkness can take over your mind and soul and take you through rough patches that you wish never to repeat. Sometimes you have no control of the things that surround you and voices take over your mind and to fight the voice is one of the hardest things to accomplish. You will try and fail and you will try and fail again and the important thing is that you will never give up on yourself. Life is a journey of rough times and pleasant times; in some chapters there will be more heartbreak than others. The darkness will never completely go away; at your weakest it will find a way to come back and seek it's prey and you will let it soak into your skin until it reaches your empty heart, but you are the spark and you can light it up in flames.

I've learned to speak, even when my voice seems to be washed away in the rough sea. I feared the words that left my lips. I worried how people would think of me once I let my beliefs and thoughts out for everyone to hear. I felt naked and susceptible to the world that surrounded. But my dear, there will always be one who doesn't agree, who will shoot every word that slips though the gaps of your teeth. You have the right to project your opinion to the world no matter how young or old you may be. Against all those who oppose you, there will be those you endorse you. There will be those who tap their feet to the sound of your drum. Hundreds. They just need to hear you.

 So speak.

Speak until your voice is parched waiting for the next monsoon to cease the drought

Ankita Bhat