Some people say they read because of its entertainment value. Some follow authors they found to their liking. Some read because they just love reading, traveling to unknown territories, going to new places, just discovering how life is on the other side.
Lately I encountered two books that make me think about life itself. The first one is all about soul mates and life of second chances, the other one is a struggle of a teenager with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There was only one time I read about soul mates and reincarnation when I read a book by Jaime Licauco, a Filipino parapsychologist. ESP, creative thinking, clairvoyance, the whole lot of it. It was just a small book but a very fascinating one. Do you believe in soul mates? I really don’t but sometimes things happen in our lives that we could not clearly explain. How come sometimes, we become close to a person we just met? How come no matter what we do, we could not get along well with someone who is just there to be a friend? Soulmates they say are not only your life partners, they might have been your brothers or sisters in previous life or your parents.
I digress. Going back to the two books I’ve read, the second book is also a fiction story about a Japanese teen with ALS. ALS is a progressive disease of the nervous system. It might be inherited or developed at a late stage in life. A long time ago, I read about the disease when Mitch Albom published his book Tuesdays With Morrie, one of my favorite books of all time. It’s an inspirational true story about Morrie, Mitch’ professor for twenty years.
When we are faced with life’s ugly realities, we tend to ignore them at times but they are those same challenges that make us strong. Experience teaches us to deal with them the best way we can. It is not really a question whether we are brave or not to face them, it is more of believing that we could face the battles. Faith is such a beautiful thing. We believe, we dream, we live.
Dreams And Escapes 