Right in the middle of the city, I found greenery in the form of willowy and aging trees hovering the shallow banks of a slim flowy stream stilled as though time had stopped in the lull of its surroundings.

Around, the long flailing leaves hanging from the hunched branches seem to be murmuring in hushed whispers to each other with tender pecks from the wind amidst their seasonal rustle.

It is a scene of serenity.
All is calm and peaceful.
Time seems to have stood still as though preserving the beauty of it all in her own favor.

It seemed surreal.

I stood on the pavement, and approached the edge of the still of the green reflection cautiously, as though afraid to disrupt the entire harmony of the grand design of nature (though I know very well, this is not exactly fully the works of nature as signs of man's intervention are evident on the boulders).

I paused to take in the moment and to eavesdrop on the wind's graceful whispers to the trees, which were then passed on among the trees themselves, blocking out all the sounds of distant honking of the motorcycles and the screeches from the tires of the cars on the road not too far away.

It is like a place which did not belong; as though it just appeared out of nowhere.
Out of the realms of magical stories, or taken out of a page of Narnia's tales.
It was odd, yet offered a soothing remedy from the chaos of the city.

I was lost, in this part of the city.

Earlier we were (supposedly) heading to our destination and the cab driver who nodded as we showed him the directions and even the location of the place (in his local language, mind you), drove us to this area and dropped us.
We couldn't find the place we wanted to go, amidst the cluttered mix of intermittent multi-storey buildings and rows of shophouses leaning at their feet.
Busy roads filled with honking motorcycles and swerving cars were as usual, intimidating the scene and adding to the confusion heightened yet by the sun blinding our vision and almost blacking our lights out as we struggled to read our digital maps on the phones.

It was not a pretty situation for someone not familiar with the place.

We ended up on this side of the road and that was where the voices beckoned us towards this oasis amidst the concrete desert shrouded by the dusty smoke emitted by the polluting vehicles.

It is like an illusion.

I feel lost, yet it was as though I had wandered into the right place.
It was a soothing relief from the heat and dust; and from the mess of it all.

It was not where I had planned nor even had thought, but it did not feel like it was all wrong.
I did not even feel scared of being lost anymore.
I have even forgotten that I was lost.
It felt right.
It felt like I belonged.

It was a comforting place to be.

Perhaps this is where it wanted me to be; perhaps this is where I should be.

Just like the many ways life had planned itself gracefully without my knowledge.

There are so many times when I had made my plans to do and pursue things which are deemed as I had seen in my own vision.
I had it all mapped out and headed in that direction, determined to reach the destination in which I had planned for.

Sometimes it turns out that nature has her own way of telling me otherwise.

It would just change my tracks through the many signs that the direction I am heading is not intended for me.
Sometimes I ignore the signs and the voices that tell me so.
Sometimes I chose to follow just to be met with disappointments, which nature would have helped to prevent the heartbreak had I only learn to listen.

Sometimes I could prove nature wrong, but often nature does so gently to show me the way.

Life just has her own plans too, and all I need to do is to just let her have her way once in a  while.
What's the worse that can happen?

Often we are so sure of our own directions and headed for our destinations, but how sure are we, that, that is the right one?
That is the place we should be.

It is good to know what we want and to be determined, but there are times, we know, deep down, it just would not work out.
Yet we persist because we thought we knew best.
We want it that way, although our heart says no.
We think with our head, and let the sounds from the heart fall on deaf ears.
It is because we were designed that way.
We were not supposed to always follow the heart, because the heart is usually emotional.

But what happens when we Listen to the heart?
Just take a few moments to just listen what the heart has to say, before jumping to the decision.

It might just surprise us that the heart does sometimes synchronize with the mind.
Perhaps the mind too want to listen to the heart.
That is the design of nature.
It is all natural.

We wander because we are sure of what we want.
Or we think we know what we want.

Perhaps sometimes, it is not about what we want alone that matters.
There are times when it is what we are destined for that could be the significance.

Destiny and choice could sometimes be aligned, or sometimes they could be worlds apart.

But how do we know?
How do we decide when we should follow our choice or our destiny?

Sometimes, we really do not know, but does it really matter?

Do we really need to be right, all the time?

Perhaps we may not see the right thing or that path which could be staring at us right from the start, because we were too blinded or too busy chasing after what we thought we wanted.

We may need to just wander in a direction or tread on the path we started on, to lose our direction and sometimes, even ourselves to really see the importance of what and where we really want to go.

That right path will not seem right until we have seen a dead end.

It is only then, as we wander our way back to that fork, that junction of the road to start from that initial point that the other path not taken may suddenly shine like the beacon of hope from nowhere, though it was there all the while.

The wrong turnings and paths we have taken may not have been all bad either.
We could have learnt our way around, developed better motor and sensory skills towards our surroundings, and honed navigational skills more superior than before.
They could be the prerequisites and the training to prepare us for the right journey, so that when we finally get on that real journey, we are in our much advantaged selves than before to touch that victorious point.
Success could just be beckoning ahead, when it is all right.

Without the wrongs that come in our way, we will never realize the importance of the right.
It is only through the wrong that we know and recognize the right.
We learn to pick up ourselves when we stumble.
We do not give up when we are lost, because we are still able to find our way out.

The right is not always right, nor is the wrong always wrong.

The right could come from the wrong, and the wrong just shows that there is another way that could be right.

Never give up when you face obstacles or when you feel that everything is wrong in your life.
No one ever has everything right or figured out right from the start.

Just like a child, everyone stumbles, everyone falls.
Everyone has been through the wrongs.

Otherwise, no one would be able to tell the difference between the wrong and the right.

The words wrong and right may not even exist.

Believe in yourself, make your choices but do not be afraid or despair when you do not always see the way.

Nature always has her way to guide you, if you will only open your heart, your eyes and your mind to listen and see.
Sometimes there may even be modes or ways to escape it all, right there staring at you if you would only look and take the chance.





Most importantly, the journey is all about learning the wrongs from the right and the rights from the wrongs.

Once in a while, you may even find an oasis amid it all, shimmering in all its glory to whisper songs of hope to brighten you up.

You just need to see with your eyes and mind, and listen with your heart and soul.

Everything will be alright.

Even if you are lost, in a foreign city where you don't know the language...



P.S:
You know what they say, follow your heart, but always bring your brain along too~
Have fun exploring on that journey called Life.

This beautiful park I stumbled upon is located in District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and is known as the Le Thi Ring Park.

(Yes, we found our way but we decided to head somewhere else instead after we left the park)