A Single Star

I looked up into the night sky and saw for the first time that there is only love.

And I knew in that moment — without the need for proof — that satisfying all my worldly desires would bring but a mirage of joy, for its essence lay within, not without.

I knew, in that moment, that all life is a miracle and each moment a gift — that the garbage man is as precious as the president, the street busker as priceless as the king, and the beggar as worthy of the star’s light as the wealthiest man on earth.

“Death comes as surely to us all”, I cried out into the stillness of the night.

I resolved, then, with a lone star hanging in the sky, to no longer seek to ascend higher but to do that which is infinitely harder — to be here and to be true.

For I had dreamed of scaling the highest peaks and conquering the largest empires.

But I had come to realise in that moment that even triumphs of such worldly acclaim would pale into nothingness when placed alongside just a single star.

For a shining light in the winter sky was infinitely more beautiful and infinitely more sublime than anything I could ever do.

I was, if only for a moment, free.

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