The world as we know.

Often I think the world sets us up for a fall. 
It tells us how to dream but doesn’t tell us what to do when those dreams are broken. It makes us reach for the sky but gives us no hint how to keep hold of the ground beneath our feet. It makes us want, wish, feel, need all the things we can live without but never explains how to curb our desires. It sets up all these goal posts for what we should achieve and each time we’re within yards of them, it moves them further by a few more feet. The world creates within us this longing for more. More than what we are. More than what we can be. More than what we need. More than what is our share. It gives us this silly fucking sense of entitlement. Like we’re owed. It shows us the perfect life. The good life. The easy life. Then expects us to live the hard life. It does it without explanation. Without reason. With no warning. Throws us in the deep end without an anchor. The world feeds us softness. Of heart. Of mind. Of being and feeling. And then requires us to handle harshness. It tells us we should be warm and humble and virtuous, whilst testing our patience. It does its best to batter and mould and shape and coerce us into being good people and then rips the goodness right from inside our chests with bad people. It says we should want for our neighbour all that we should want for ourselves, but doesn’t think to inform our neighbour to want the same for us. The world makes us fall in love. When we don’t want to. When we don’t ask to. When we don’t look to. Not just that. But it makes us fall hopelessly. Spectacularly. It lets it infect our head and tug at our heart and find its way into our gut. It makes us lose our mind. Our senses. Our ability to judge between right or wrong. It peels away our defences. It blows open our walls. It leaves us naked. And then asks us to keep hold of ourselves. The world has this great big notion of forgiveness but nowhere does it explain to you how you should forget. It tells you how to light yourself up but there’s no manual on what to do when it all goes dark.

The world is great at helping you to fall. Just not at telling you how to catch yourself.