Shape of Our Lives

X. O.

Our lives are all filled with ups and downs, dodges and swerves, hits and near misses. Each obstacle— a crease to our crisp sheet of blank paper. As we progress through life, our number of folds increases, some slightly— only bending a corner, while others fold the entire sheet in half. Even if we try to straighten it out, no matter how hard we press down or how long it is left between two heavy books, those lines are never erased— forever visible, however small or insignificant they might seem. 

Someday, our piece of paper will have enough folds to rival our wrinkled faces and gnarled hands. 

Some might crumple it up and throw it away in a wastebasket to be forgotten. 

Others set it on fire, watching its ashes smolder— eventually get blown to distances by the wind. 

However, a few hold it tenderly in their hands, folding and tucking along the lines until it is no longer recognizable. 

No longer a wrinkled sheet but a delicate and unique work of art, the testament of their life. No two are the same, as no two lives are the same, nor are challenges faced during it. Those who decide to make something out of that piece of paper find themselves with the piece of their lives.