Years ago, I met a guy. He was young, confident, charismatic, optimistic, extroverted and a bringer of happiness. He was full of life and best of all, he was content with himself. I envy and admire him at the same time. He had qualities that were hard to find even then.

Later in life, he met a girl. With time, he fell for her. His cheery attitude and confidence were she told; attracted her. A heart filled with love is like a helium-filled balloon. Both know no bounds and for both skies are the only limit but what goes up has to fall to the ground someday and so he fell too. He got injured badly. He didn't feel the severity of his injuries until later and got up as if nothing happened.

One day he confessed. His confession brought him to the face of that 1 reality, he had never thought; "Rejection". Though, he faced it head-on and lived to tell the tale. His optimism got the best of him and enabled him to live through the pain. Even though he was rejected, he decided to remain her 3 am friend. Yes! this kind of a man he was.

Months passed and then a whole year, seeing her dating man after man took a toll on him. He couldn't help but wonder what made her like them? What made her choose them? Even though, they were not the right choices as none lasted long. It was the very first time in his life, he dared to look at himself through someone else's eyes; "Through her eyes". He stood before the mirror and stared at his own reflection. He had seen his reflection millions of times before but never before he noticed the deformities that he was witnessing right then. He found the reason he was so hell-bent on finding, his deformity; "His average looks". He looked at her previous boyfriends and then back at himself, they were the right choices. He understood that he didn't but when others looked at him, they noticed his deformity. She enjoyed his company and possibly liked him too but to be loved he needed a lot more because being anything but good-looking wasn't enough to be loved. Good looks and money because they all had a good blend of both. He could have chalked it all up to her being materialistic and pretentious but he looked around and found that to be the reality of almost every single person. He lost his content with himself. Even his optimistic side couldn't find the "Sunny side up" and that was the first nail in his coffin.

It is said that when you lose one thing you gain other. He lost his content but he found pride.

His pride didn't do anything to heal him but it made him hide his pain. He was too proud to let his wounds be seen to the world or the people close to him. This was the second nail in his coffin.

Pain brings even the strongest to their knees but it makes one more sympathetic and open to the pain of others. Ridden with pride and hidden behind a "couldn't care-less" attitude mixed with sympathy and openness to the pain of others, made him a perfect outlet for people to let out everything without the fear of being judged or being unheard. People dumped all their life's miseries and pain onto him. Surrounded by the pain and sorrow of others and as well as his own, he fell deeper into despair where others sighed in relief. He could no longer see the wonders of the life and world. Everywhere he looked, he could only find torment, pain, sorrow, and disappointments. Gradually, he lost his foresight and with it, his optimism. He could still tell people that everything would be fine and that the pain is temporary with a smiling and reassuring face but could no longer believe in it himself. His pain increased. Though his outlook remained the same; "Happy and cheerful". This was the third nail in his coffin.

Disappointment causes disconnection and disconnection needs a distraction. His disconnection led him to distraction and his distraction led to...