I think experiences shape a man. A man is all about the confrontations he has gone through. They act as premonition as well as an alarm. They enlighten us about the result. We use others’ experiences to make our way immaculate. We use them to make our choices. I don’t agree with the belief that bad experiences should be not recalled and one should just move on. I value each bad experience in my life as a ‘gem of an experience’. I use them in trade. I use them as my wealth to buy good experiences at present and in future. This is wealth nobody can snatch from me. It is mine and will remain so forever.

These bad experiences which manifest as bad memories give me the energy to move forward. The good memories are there to cherish. They don’t make my eyes wet nor kindles a fire in my belly. I trust these bad memories. They are the truth. They are not fakes. Nobody can act bad or give fake insults. Its on your face, it’s the truth. These are little pieces of candy one will carry for the whole life. What is there to carry throughout life except memories? Will you carry currencies? One day you will get allergic to those currencies. Will you carry your spouse? She/ he will be too old to carry around by then. Will you carry your books? You would have read volumes of books by that time that no single book would be able to generate your interest.

Yes, it is only these memories that one will carry around for the whole life. And isn’t nice to carry them around? The temptations you went through, the insults you were forced to take, the guilt , the tremendous amount of depression you underwent, the frustrations, and of course, a lot of joyful, satisfying moments. When I said about the fire in the belly, don’t error by linking it to vengeance. We may have been on the wrong side when somebody insulted us. May be we did something which wasn’t expected from us. Sometimes we didn’t do what was expected from us. So, it doesn’t make sense to take vengeance on those people who ridiculed us or passed insults. The fire in the belly tells us to get ahead, do things that will make people applaud you, or to attain the dreams, which seemed unattainable very long ago.

To make things clear from my part, let me say one thing; it was one of those bad memories that prompted me to write this article. Otherwise, I would have slept and would have put these precious times in trash bin. So, it is constructive. It is not a waste. It is eternal. It is one such companion who won’t part ways with you. You and I cannot escape the truth. If I try to run away from facing it, I’m a coward. I don’t want to be one. What about you, my dear friend?