It was a special day; yet, I had been here before; I was again another attendee at a wedding. I sometimes questioned, was I that different from the other girls? We had all grown up in very similar families. We did not have much, but we were happy. We loved people. We loved our country and we supported our King and his family. However, it started to become noticeably obvious that I had was not following suit and to be quite honest, I am not sure how. Prior to the weddings of the other girls, a few people in the town made remarks such as, “Charity, of all the girls, will be the first one to be married” But to everyone’s dismay this was not case.
I heard the I do’s and saw another sweet kiss. My friend looked so happy and I was happy for her. There is something about weddings that always makes me tear up. It is such a beautiful part of life!
I left that day and looked at the town I had grown up in. I saw the faithful shop owners, the neighbors whose kids I had grown up with and reminisced about the times we had. I decided that maybe I should go outside my town- what could I lose? I had been here my whole life and there did not seem to be a niche for me in this town. So, I packed my bags and I set out for an adventure. Along the way, I met some friends: Fear, Worry and Condemnation. We’d often have long conversations throughout our day, similar to the on that follows:
Worry: I don’t know if you should stay away too long because what if you become
too different? Then no one will like you
Fear: Don’t you think people will judge you? Aren’t expected to get married and start a family?
Me: Well, I’m not sure, but I left because I felt like there was something more.
Condemnation: Well, you should just go back because you are pretty much a failure already- you said you didn’t fit in, but you should just make it work.
My friends listened to me talk, but they also voiced their opinions. More often than not, part of me would agree. My friends and I all worked at a placed called WORLD, until I found another job called REACH where were we did a lot of service for communities worldwide.
While working at REACH, I had less communication with Fear, but Condemnation and I became closer. She always had something to say. It was a comfort to have someone who had known me for a long time. She kind of kept me grounded.
Although working at REACH was wonderful, a few years in, I began to feel restless. Similar to how I felt after my friend’s wedding. Was it time to branch out into the unknown again? At this point, I spoke with Fear more. Condemnation was always available though. Worry heard about my predicament and decided to offer her support. I tried to calm worry down because she always panics whenever change is brought up. Fear would say things like, you shouldn’t talk like this, and Maybe you are having a crisis- that’s it a crisis! You should see someone for this! I tried to calm my friends down. Sometimes they would get themselves more worked up than me over situations in my life. I told them maybe the restlessness was coming because I felt like I could do more at REACH. After I minimized how restless I was feeling, they finally calmed down. They changed the conversation to a fiscal collapse and natural disasters, the normal topics they felt a need to discuss.
A week after my conversation with my friends, my supervisor name Arthur Rity came to me and two other co-workers. He assigned me and two other co-workers to a fairly large scale, intense project. The project would consist of reaching different regions specifically to their cultural needs. The two co-workers I would be paired with were Faith and Confusion. Confusion never said much, but whenever he was around, things seemed to be out of order and chaotic. It seemed like you could take him at his word, but then it always backfired; yet, there was something about him that made me want to trust him. Faith was a very inspiring individual. A little bold at times, but she was so hopeful and optimistic about the future and taking risks. She had been through a lot of friendships and had been rejected by several people. Some of the people who had rejected her I knew like Worry, Anxiety, Fear, and even Condemnation. This was the main reason I didn’t talk with at first. However, I was looking forward to working with her. I wondered why anyone would reject her. No matter what anyone said or did, she just kept taking one step in front of the other. She had been all over the world and still had so many friends such as: Love, Hope and Patience. They were all very close and no matter where they were. I started to watch and analyze Faith’s life and choices. There was something about her that made me want to know her more.
The project we were assigned to was called Growth. We wanted to expand the economy by how we reached certain demographics. Confusion, Faith and I would work from 9-5 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After our project days, Faith always invited me to come out for dinner, or coffee. Confusion heard about it and asked if he could go. I didn’t mind at first, but then I when I got home I’d realize my conversation with Faith seemed to surpass me when Confusion came. So, I started to hide the fact when Faith and I planned to meet. The more faith and I met, the more I began to dream. We had more similarities than I thought. In fact, she was from the town just across the way from me. She knew our King. The difference between her and I though is that she knew the King. I only knew of him.
One night, as we were sitting in an adorable coffee shop, Faith said, Charity, I have to tell you about someone. Faith was always very determined and never wasted her breath on non-sense, so I immediately sat up to hear what she had to say. He is the most amazing man I know, and my dearest friend. My heart began to beat faster. I was stunned because I thought Faith was the most amazing woman I has ever met. I can’t imagine how great her friend was plus he was a guy! Then I thought why would she want to introduce him to me? What was he like? Was he handsome? Kind? Would he want to be friends with me? My mind was suddenly full of questioned. I realized I had not responded to Faith’s last statement. Uh, sure, when? Is he in town? What should I wear? Faith chuckled you can calm down. He is very down to earth. Faith went on to explain how her friend had always been like her other half. We have been friends for as long as I can remember She said. She began sharing memories about their friendship. When she was through talking, I asked, What is his name To which she responded, Peace.
