Repost! If I am an island, she is my ocean.

[captnobeard]

Many times over my few years, I have reached my unprotected hand into the flames. Always because I have thought there was something beyond the flames that I wanted. Always because I thought the pain would be worth the prize. So far, I've been wrong every time. There have been times that the prize has been reached so many times there is little left for me. There have been times that the prize has been in the flames so long that I am burnt more by taking it, than reaching for it. There have been times that the prize did not exist but in my mind. But I am always burned. And though I never seem to learn my lesson, I am ok with that. Because the prize that is worth the pain does exist, and it will be mine someday. I am not embarrassed for reaching into the flames again, and again. But having been watched as I have made a fool of myself again, and again makes me feel small. Yet as I stand, once again, at the edge of the flames, I have opened myself to people. Now they stand in a circle to enjoy the show. Encouragement, and discouragement flying at me from all directions. Unsolicited advice thrown at me from unwanted witnesses. They all see the prize differently than I do. They all see the risk differently than I do. And none will feel the pain but I. I have shared my fears, and my hopes with others, and have brought the attention on myself. This was a mistake. So I step back from the heat of the flame. I will sit and wait for the onlookers to leave me be. I'll sit and wait for the fire to die down, or the prize to come to me, or for the prize to reveal it's true nature. They say no man is an island, but sometimes I wish more than anything that I was.

If I am an island, she is my ocean. Connecting me to the rest of the world.