I've had close to three decades of ups and downs. The last time I had a chat with my dad, he confided in me an important lesson. One must take the bitter with the sweet. The tears allow you to cherish your life's share of laughter. There is no point to envy anyone. We try. That's what we do. We try our best and if we fail, we try again.

I once read a Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov. He built an entire world around a poem by Robert Browning.

Grow old along with me,
The best is yet to be,
(...)
The last of life,
for which the first was made for.

This is life. Always has been, always will be. We make mistakes. But we try to correct them. In our small capacities and our weak frail bodies, we try to build a life we probably don't deserve, a claim to life's fulfilment where ever it may be. Let me share another poem. (Poe's El Dorado)

Gaily bedight,
A gallant night
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of El Dorado.

But he grew old --
This knight so bold --
And -- o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like El Dorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow --
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be --
This land of El Dorado?"

"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied --
"If you seek for El Dorado."

Don't stop. Today I am reminded that God has a purpose in everything that happens to us. I've been pulling my own bag bringing it here and there when really I should have just sat still and waited. As calm as I may seem, I've made frantic broad strokes in my life. I've made mistakes. They've been corrected as much as they could. Should I be hated?

If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?

We are, I am, human. I tried my best. We stand up. We try our best.