Questioning Acceptance.

 You’re new to this but there are things that even you know. Certain circumstances require a specific level of skill to be successfully traipsed through- this being one of those situations.

  What’s that? Don’t know the meaning of a long word? Surely that word does not exist? Truly the speaker is concocting words to highlight his high-end vocabulary or rather your lack thereof.

Of course I know what you are talking about!

What’s this now?

You’re shaking your head in affirmation.

You know what I speak of?

Oh you get the general gist.

Is that so?

A tentative brow arch, a cautious glance at the fellow standing next to you. What ensues is a precarious game of gauging his reaction and ensuring yours doesn't mimic his but is similar enough in nature to not make your ignorance prominent.

(so stealthy)

What’s that?

The new phone? Oh yes, heard all about that one too. Wait. That’s what they’re asking? Isn't that a little too pricey? Or is it? Is it for everyone else though?Your companion gasps for effect. His animated expressions under a thick coat of concealer marking his approval for the reasonable market rates.

What is this now?

You’re nodding again.

(That was exactly what I was thinking! Did you read my mind?)

I can’t help it. I’m smiling and I know that I’ll write about you tonight. Or instead something far more intriguing than you. Let’s talk about your skill set shall we? The one neglected because acknowledging its existence creates skepticism within us. Not of our status. It runs deeper. We begin doubting the very core of the world.

You've heard of it since forever. You haven’t really spared time to think about what it means but have accepted it as a universal truth, which it undeniably is.The very universal truth which compels kin to kill kin. Which is the only plausible cause of muffled echoes of suicide rates in students. Without which life is not only unimaginable but impossible.

There are words then there are variations. At the end of the day words vary and variations exceed you and everything becomes beyond you. Words and variations become silence and silence becomes interchangeable.

I’ll give you a word. You have heard of its variations.

The word? Competition.

Variations? The incessant headache the night before a job interview. The pain behind your eyes after studying all night for a test.The fear which makes you weak on your knees as you hear the crack of the report card opening. Or maybe something completely else for you but this is what we inevitably return to. All variations coming from a variety of different words, those words bearing a single meaning.

Okay that was confusing.

For humans of the 21^st century acceptance is treated as something you are born with rather than develop. In a world where voices travel faster than light and computers are considered a better substitute to humans, it comes as no surprise that that we are better equipped in dealing with the subtle art of embracing change than our ancestors were.

We drink the news of a bomb blast like water, breathe the possibility of war like air and still prepare for something worse for dinner. Often the world’s chefs comply with our desires to meet our expectations. Fate delivers and we are almost never disappointed. Even those of us who hope for the best always prepare for the worst.

(that moment when you look forward to your vacations and
 have no idea why when you actually get there)

There might have come a point in your life where you failed to muster the exact level of apathy necessary to accept anything and everything. A time when your instinct must have compelled you to analyze the situation before blindly going along with it.

A puckered mouth, scrunched up forehead and shocked set of eyes met all of your questions.

(What? answer the next generation's questions?
I have better things to do)

Had we been more resilient then we would have been prouder of the versions we are today. As it is, our brief outburst was adequately stifled by the overwhelming fear of being declared an outcast. Hence the birth of a new skill.One we often fear to name. It goes by “adaptability”.

Not being much of an expert myself I can only share instances of when this word was tossed to make up for the missing pieces of the puzzle. The time you didn't want to cheat for a test and were told to “adapt” by your comrades. That time you didn't want to bribe for promotion but were instructed to “adapt” by your seniors. The very first time you were dumped and upon a public display of how distraught you were in the form of tears were rung up by an angry ex who advised you to “adapt”. That moment when the trending skirt was uncomfortably short but you chose to “adapt” as everyone else was gushing over it.

(Can i just? Can i just? ugh)

All our lives we are repeatedly enforced as to what is right and what is wrong. This very principle forming the core of most of our religions. But when the time comes and we inevitably encounter wrong what do we do?

Do we fight against it? Do we, to say the very least, publicly disapprove of it? Do we even think of it as a negative in our mind?

Or do we sneak a look?

(like a pro)

 A hidden glimpse to reveal what those around us are doing, because surely the entire world can’t be wrong? Surely if everyone is doing a wrong it suddenly becomes a right?

At the end of the day as everything will fade this is the question you will ask yourself:

Did you go down fighting for what was right?

Or did you suppress a splintering former conscience, convince yourself of your helplessness and accept a wrong?