a lesson from a "missing brick"

"...how often, for the lack of one brick, we completely distort the original plan of our lives..."

- an excerpt of "The Missing Brick" from the compilation
of Paulo Coelho in "Like the Flowing River"


This entry recounts an encounter of Paulo Coelho and his wife during renovations in their house. It said that their secretary called to inform them that the lay-out can't be done because the materials lack one brick. They were then offered another lay-out plan which was not so appealing to them. Thus he concluded his story with the line i quoted above.

Upon reading the line, I then tried to think of instances in my life where i was in similar situation of changing the direction of my life to fulfill a void. I think i did when i was in high school, but none so close recently when i found my second family. However, a lot of encounters from people i know flashed in my mind.

I remembered my friend who got rejected by a girl who wallowed in introspection and retrospection who is now madly devoting his time in pampering his new found special someone. This friend was special to me before because we do share a lot of similar interests but ever since the incident, he has withdrawn himself and rebuilt the walls around his ideals and principles. It is really sad but it is also one reality that convinced me of the diversity of each and everyone.

This friend has a serious void in his life which I think he is trying to fill. He is missing a "brick" for his life's blueprint. I have seen him working to pave the way for his desired future and i know that he is capable of living his dreams. I had a glimpsed once of his plans and he is aware that he is just looking the that particular "brick" which would complete his design. I also saw him trying to acquire a "brick" which he thought, is a perfect piece only to meet his biggest frustration. I was hopeful that he might find what he was looking for. He moved on and found another "brick". He is now slowly making his blueprint come to life. However, as it is unfolding, i realized how different it was from what I had seen before.

I was scanning the recent Facebook updates of my friends when another friend caught my attention. Her updates sounded bitter and sad for me, (i don't know how it seemed to others), and they usually contain the impression of being lost. I say, that she's stuck. She is also desperately trying to find a "missing brick" in her life. The problem is, I think she doesn't have a concrete idea what she's truly missing. She's been looking for things other people have and she tries to acquire the same things for herself. However, each of us is meant to have something while others don't and we will also have instances to accept that some things are not just meant for us. Because of her constant search for the "missing brick", I guess that she also missed to organize her life plans. She wasn't able to go through what she already has because she was intent for searching for something that she thinks is missing.

Gosh... I know that i sound like a prying person who gives so much meaning to stuff. I might have also overlooked the other "missing brick" in my life which redirects me unknowingly. But for now, I am quite sure that I am aware of my little "missing bricks" which I had intentionally not included in my own "Plan de Vida".

How about you? Are you aware of the "missing bricks?"

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