Keep that Torch Burning

"Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible, before handing it on to future generations." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Yes, we must pass-on a torch to our future generations, not a candle. But, do we seriously believe that we're holding torches at the moment? Are we? Are most of us just holding a candle that's burning at both ends? In this 'get somewhere quick' and 'get elsewhere quicker' life, I do believe that we're holding an ever-extinguishing candle. In fact, our future generations, all the children the world over, are the ones holding the torches; us, the adults fail to see them.

Let's give ourselves a test, shall we. Just look into the mirror and let's ask ourselves, "Who am I?". Most of us will have to think for a while before we even begin to describe ourselves, and even then we will probably be as far-off from the person we truly are. Now, go to a child, could be you own, your niece or nephew, neighbour, any child who knows you a little and ask him/her, "Who am I?". A child's answer will come before you even finish your question.

A child sees our innocence, just us as they believe they know us. They won't flatter our ego's in order to impress, they just tell us the truth. Now that's who we really are; that's the person we lose in this mayhem we now call life. I believe, in order to truly answer the simple question above, we must unlearn all that we've learnt so far. We must rediscover the child within, connect with her, love her again and give her the breath of life she longs for.

All the children in the world are our future, and we must be humble enough to realise that we are now taking lessons in life from the one's who've only just begun theirs. A child knows and lives innocence, honesty and the truth. Santa still comes down the chimney, fairy-tales still come true, a fairy godmother still leaves money under their pillow in exchange for a tooth, fearlessness is a stranger and discovery is second-nature.

We need to breakout of the 'adult-mode' and try and reintroduce ourselves to fearlessness and discovery. Most of us, hold back on living life in its truest sense because we fear the consequences that may or may not follow. Most of us, fail to keep the explorer in us alive because we're often afraid of what we will discover. Break-free, break-free and conquer fear, break-free and discover. Yes, in some situations certain responsibilities may take precedence, but I believe that fearlessness and discovery can co-exist (happily at that) with responsibility. Yes, fearlessness and discovery are something our future generations are teaching us.


Notice a little child learning to cycle. He/she can't wait to get on and zip-off. The little child focuses on the process of learning and not on a few falls that may happen on the way to learning to ride. When they do fall, they bruise, they cry, but they get up and get back on. The bruise scabs and eventually heals in its time. And while the bruise is healing, the child masters the art of riding. Fearlessness and discovery are quite like that. We need to hop on and surge, yes, we may fall and bruise in the process, but the wounds are temporary, they will heal. The experience and learning are priceless and it's something we will carry for the rest of our lives.


We must keep our questions coming, because only when we question, will we ever have the guts to try and figure out our answers. With our answers comes realisation, with realisation comes even more questions, with even more questions comes even more soul-searching and discovery. As we answer each question, as we come close to realising who we really are, we come closer to ourselves, to our inner-beings... to the truth. Sometimes, we scare ourselves with what we come to realise, but remember, that fright is temporary. Accept what we see, who we are and ask ourselves another simple question.

These days, most of us are busy complication our lives with the complex questions. But begin with the simple ones; they're the hardest to answer, but once we do, we'll realise that the complex questions don't exist anymore. Simplicity and truth are so strong, so pure that nothing remotely complex and/or negative has the strength to sustain itself. Yes, the truth itself can be very scary, but that is one fear we MUST, simply MUST conquer. (Conquering the Fear of the Truth will follow in a different post tomorrow)

If you want to see the truth, see it in the face of a child, see it when you close you eyes and connect with the Almighty and the universe. Live, really live your life spiritually - it awaits you with bated breath.

There's a bright, bright torch burning brilliantly somewhere and there's one for all of us. It's time we relearned our lessons from all the little children; they personify the truth, innocence, fearlessness, sharing and caring. They are our torches with true lessons in life.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)