That Thin Line/ Achilles heel

There is something excruciating about a fallen hero. The object of admiration and envy, now the focus of ridicule. From the pinnacle of success to the deepest doldrums of depression.

There is a thin line between white and black. Between having courage of conviction to being stuck up. Between being practical and being dishonest. Between being authoritative and being a dictator. Between being ambitious and being cut throat competitive. Between having empathy and being a sissy. Between being focused and being telescopic. Between being a realist and being a cynic. Between sharp intellect and sarcasm.

We cross these lines imperceptibly. And then our best qualities turn into our Achilles heel. If we can still see ourselves, we can sometimes turn back. Most times, our insight is transformed into short sight.

Most times, we, the victims of our own qualities, are doomed to fall from heights. The very qualities that propelled us to those heights pull us down. The fall is way faster than the painstaking climb.

If some way, we could see ourselves as we cross the Lakshman Rekha , more of us would remain on the way up rather than slide into ignominy.