Setting things straight

About three years back when I was in my final year of college a friend gave me a pack of DVD's of FRIENDS, the famous television series that captured the heart of all America in late nineties.

Well, the series is pretty entertaining, I must say. I copied all the episodes on my computer and started watching FRIENDS pretty regularly. Even after college when I started working I was still watching Friends pretty regularly. During dinner, during holidays or whenever I had nothing better to do.

One night as I was having dinner I switch on one of the episodes of Friends. The episode was about events leading to Ross's wedding with Emily (the British Chippie) in London and the scene was in Central Perk. Monica and Rachel were sitting and talking and Rachel was telling Monica how hard it is for her to accept the fact that Ross is getting married to someone else and that she still had feeling for him and even though they were not seeing each other she always hoped that someday they'll be back as a couple. And that it is so hard to see somebody you love getting married to somebody else.

Tears were rolling down the eyes of both the girls as Monica hugged Rachel to comfort her. And as the scene lasted for about 50 seconds, I too started thinking of how hard life can be. I mean after all life is to love and be loved.

Enters, pregnant Phoebe in the scene. After a regular “Hi! Hello". Phoebe asks, "What are you girls talking about?". Rachel replies that she was just sharing with Monica about her feelings about Ross' wedding and how hard it it for her to accept that Ross is getting married to somebody else. And that for her it is a big problem.

"Oh! it's just the same when I was a child." says Phoebe.
"Except not!" she continues.
"What are you saying?" replies Rachel.
"Yeah! you see when I was growing up my mother had killed herself, my father had run away, I was forced to live with a mad man who spoke to his hand and when I was a teenager a man asked me to sleep with him in exchange of food." said Phoebe.
"I totally understand what you guys are talking about." she concluded.

Seldom have I been stuck between my eyes like this.

"If you lose your parents, if you have nothing to eat, if you have nowhere to live - then you have a problem. Everything else is mere discomfort."

Life is full of ups and downs. It is sure a bumpy road, this life. But one should learn to understand the difference between a problem and everything else.

Just as a broken heart and a heart attack are not the same things.