Quote by Sid Aaron Hirji. "Despair is behind me. Yet, I have to continue forward as life stops for no one".

Sid's full quote.

"Despair is behind me from my past, yet I will not look behind to see it. I have to continue to look forward as life stops for no one".

The words carry the weight of someone who has lived, learned, and decided~~quietly but fiercely~~to keep moving.

The Poem

An Expanded Reflection

Despair is behind me, a shadow from a life I’ve already outgrown.

Yes. I feel its presence ~~its breath, its memory, its echo~~

but I will not turn my head to greet it.

What’s done is done, and I refuse to resurrect what tried to bury me.

Forward is the only direction that honors who I am becoming.

Forward is where my heart leans, where my path looms clearer,

where my steps belong.

Life waits for no one,

and I will not be the one who lingers in yesterday’s ruins

when tomorrow is calling me by my true, unbroken name.

I walk on ~~~~~

I may not be untouched, nor unscarred,

but I am unwilling to be claimed by anything that no longer deserves me.

“I Do Not Look Back”

Despair is behind me,

a shadow that no longer owns my steps.

I feel its pull sometimes - the whisper, the weight...

yet I refuse to turn my face

toward anything that tried to break me.

Forward is where my steps belong.

Forward is where my spirit rises.

Forward is the only direction

that honors the warrior I am becoming.

Life waits for no one,

and I will not linger in the ruins

of a story I have already outgrown.

I walk on~~~

neither untouched, nor unscarred,

but unclaimed by the darkness

that once followed me.

Affirmation ~~ “I Choose Forward”

I release what is behind me.

I honor what I survived,

but I do not return to it.

Life moves, and so do I.

I am not defined by what tried to hold me.

I am defined by the courage that carries me on.

........

Story by Sid.

I chose Sid, because his life reads like the male version of a Cinderella story. The Black Sheep, the Outcast and the many trials which he has had to endure.

He never gives up, no matter what horrible misfortunes life throws at him. Sid is candid and open about his trials. He has told of his highs, his lows and his moments of almost wanting to give up. This makes him Human...moments we have all had...maybe not as dramatic or agonizing as his - for each person's pain and happiness are unique only to them, in most parts.

He moves ahead...charting his own course, no matter how difficult.

...............................The Prompt.