the boy

There once was a boy. A boy not so different from any other boy in most respects. Craft of the same fabric, filled with the same stuffing, and raised in the same manner. Born into a world too big to understand. Thrown about in different conflicts and situations that over time made him who he was. Made strong and weak by those around him and those events he so often engaged in. The boy thought he knew it all. He would hear people speak, he could even tell them exactly what they said, but hearing and listening are two different things.

He heard their warnings but he failed to heed them. He heard their cries for change but he chose to listen to himself. A free thinker who followed his own beat. An uncertain boy with morals who oftentimes broke.

In other words he was just like everyone else.

And at the same time so very different.

A wise doctor once told the young man that when you're young you want to be wanted. And that when you've grown, you want to be cared about. He said that some people have a tough time growing and maturing enough to let themselves be cared for. The doctor said that a heart not cared for is a heart that belongs to no one, not even the person who's chest it resides in. To control your heart you must fill it with love and care.

The boy heard but he didn't understand. He listened but he was unaware that people didn't want care. He grew up in an environment where being wanted wasn't worth a damn and where care was real and care was right.

The boy didn't understand how want could exceed care so he turned to the doctor again to seek advice. The doctor told the boy, "Some people are always looking for a better deal." To this response the boy's face became puzzled. "Isn't searching for a better deal a good thing? My mom told me never to settle," replied the boy. The doctor sat back in his chair and chuckled. "It's simple, my boy," he started, "it deals with maturity...because being cared for takes heart, trust, and selflessness. Things not acquired with age, but acquired with growth."

As the boy laid his head back and closed his eyes he began explaining in his own words, "It's about taking responsibility, isn't it? It's the idea that being cared for means letting another person in. Which means that you're responsible for not only what you feel, but what the person who cares for you feels as well. So before someone can learn to be cared for they have to care about themselves. They have to respect themselves....and come to think of it that only covers the topic of letting someone care for you...it takes even more to care for another. Yeah, that must be it."

When he finished his piece and opened his eyes he saw the doctor was no longer there. He climbed off the couch and went to his room. Another afternoon spent processing, thinking, questioning the world that confused him so.

NP: The Boxer- Mumford and Sons