LIFE'S MAILBOX (360 repost)

My good friend (you know who you are) from college has a very wise mother. Being girls in a hierarchical society means you really have to be resourceful when it comes to coping skills.  Among our many discussions, we talked of life for a woman in our society, where it is very difficult for a girl to have a voice. We wondered how our mothers, grandmothers and all those countless women before us coped. We were at the tail end of our teens on the threshold of adulthood.  Having had the opportunity to go to college, our ideals for freedom, rights, voice and power was as hot as the blood that flowed beneath our skins.  In spite of all the excitement of life, there was a part, deep within us that was very typical of being Indian.  We understood that we had to make compromises in our lives. No matter how much we earned or how qualified we were to voice our opinions, we might have to stay silent.

One of the things that stood in my mind at the end of the discussion was my friend telling me what her mother told her about life as a woman.  I can't quote the exact thing, but here goes-

"When we are born, we are like a huge block of raw marble that is just quarried.  As we go through our lives, doing the things we need to, like to and have to do.  We get chiseled by the people who come into our lives. Some of those people make us beautiful, some leave unfinished parts, some leave deep grooves that can't be repaired, but everyone shapes us. Every time the block is chiseled it causes deep emotions, some are nice, and some are painful.  As we make adjustments within our lives and begin to accept the different chisel marks (teachings), we become smooth marble. It will be our time to leave when all the work on us is done. We become beautiful statues."

Every time I am faced with a change that I am reluctant to make, I send silent thanks for having a friend like her through whom the message from her mother was passed to me.