He liked this bench.
Not because it was beautiful—it wasn’t. The wood was cracked, the bolts rusted to a soft brown, the slats uneven like piano keys out of tune. But it faced the city, and from here he could watch people pass with just enough distance to wonder who they really were.
The woman who always wore red, walking the same route each morning, as if repeating it might summon meaning. The man with the lunchbox and untucked shirt, humming to himself like he knew a secret. The boy with headphones and heavy steps, looking too young to be carrying whatever it was he carried.
Everyone moved with purpose. Or maybe not purpose—just momentum.
The Water, the Riverbed, and the Choice
He used to think you could fit anywhere if you tried hard enough. That if you worked, adapted, shaved off the rough edges, you could belong.
But rivers don’t settle for the wrong path.
And neither should we.
We spend years trying to squeeze into places that weren’t made for us. Cities too loud for our thoughts. Jobs too narrow for our imagination. Relationships that require us to shrink.
And then, one day—if we’re lucky—we realize something simple and hard:
It’s our job to find the riverbed that matches our flow.
How the River Learns to Choose
You are not just shaped by your environment.
You are responsible for choosing it.
You are not a victim of the current.
You are the one who steers.
No one is coming to pick the right place for you.
Not your parents. Not your teachers. Not your lovers.
It’s you.
And it’s not selfish to seek that place.
It’s survival.
It’s self-respect.
It’s love.
Lessons from the Bench, and the River Beyond It
- If you feel drained where you are, it’s not a flaw in you. It’s a sign to move.
- You owe it to yourself to stop flowing uphill.
- The world is wide. Somewhere, your waters will feel effortless again.
- You’re not waiting to be saved. You’re learning to steer.
The bench is still there.
He doesn’t sit there as often these days. Because eventually, he stood up. He stopped watching the river.
And he went to find where he belonged in it.
life 
Leave a comment