She could feel it again, the gnawing pain had now become a constant companion. It crept stealthily when she least expected it, made her mind its home and took over every inch of her being.
That bubbly woman who loved life, who made every moment count. Was this really her?
Lost in the humdrum of raising a family, being the doting daughter to her parents, the ideal wife, the loving mother, DIL, sister and so many roles that she played with such finesse, some part of her had slowly and steadily withered away.
She found happiness in the joy of her loved ones , or so she told herself for years as she put everyone first but herself. This had slowly started to feel untrue and thats when the pain started to feel more stronger, lasting and made her feel like the light was blowing out.
As she lit the lamp that evening and the light flickered, lighting up everything around and making its surroundings glow, she could see why it shone so bright and steady. For it to glow, the oil inside the lamp had to be filled to the brim, as it started to get used up the lamp dimmed till it finally ran out of oil and stopped glowing.
She had to find her own happiness, not in others but in herself, invest in things she loved, nurture herself as an individual and her flame would burn forever.
Was it too late to call Sheila and enroll for that Himalaya trip next week? she wondered with a chuckle.
Written in response to Vineeta’s Fiction Mondays
Photo by Uriel Mont on Pexels.com
www.akswrites.com 
Beautiful! We need to find our own happiness, not in our loved ones’ happiness by sacrificing what we love to do. A very valid point, Akshata. Love this story. Thank you so much for joining #FictionMonday. 🙂
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True! We always put ourselves at the bottom of our priority lists and one day, when we look back, we find that we are at the bottom of everyone’s priority lists! Self-love and putting oneself first make life a much better and happier journey.
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