A boy confronts anger, sadness, happiness...

A boy confronts anger...

You are a strange friend. You come at a trigger of an event and blow it out of proportion. You stay for longer than you should when you are no longer welcome. You have no "stop" buttons. You have no brakes. It's like releasing the dogs with rabies on a situation that is no longer threatening. Sometimes a little of you is productive, even reasonable. You help me to set things right. You remind me to 
toe the line. You give me that needful push to make a stand for myself, for my rights. But most times, you pushed me too far. You just don't know when to say, "enough is enough." It is as if your internal thermostat is locked on overheating all the time. You need to cool down, chill out. As a friend, I want to work with you. I want to train you up. I want to tell you not to rush into a situation with an axe to grind. I want you to control yourself. To take the time to see things from the other
 person's perspective. To seek to understand first before insisting that the whole world understands you. To live to embrace patience, forgiveness and trust. I believe you can achieve a good measure of all that because deep inside, you are actually a gentle giant.

A child confronts sadness...

You are a friend nobody wants to play with. You are always the sulking one, morose and negative. Spending a day with you suck a lot out of me. You are not noisy
 but you like to whisper into my ears. You would tell me that tomorrow will not be better. You would tell me that hope is for other people. You would also tell me that the glass is not going to be filled, ever. You have a way with me. You always keep me under the weather for longer than I wish to be. When you cast your spell on me, you make me want to sleep the whole day and never move a muscle. You make me want to resign to my fate and call it a day. Like anger, you are a friend who tends to take things
 all the way. You compress reality for me and constrict me in a dark box of self-wallowing and pity. But truth be told and credit be due, sometimes a little of you can wake me up to the reality of life. You can be a timely counselor who reminds me of my own vulnerability. You set me thinking about life in a way that arouses my compassion and deepens my understanding of it. You remind me to count my blessings and to live life with an ever-glow of thankfulness. So, come to think of it, my friendship
 with you has to be prudent and wise. I will have to call on you only when the circumstances warrant it. I will not neglect you my pouting friend, but neither will I give in too much to you. Considering the good and bad, our relationship actually has a sunny side. And the bright side is that you open my eyes to the shadow of all things; without which, I would not be able to see the source of all light.

A child confronts happiness...


You should rightfully be my best friend. You seem unable to do any wrong. Playing with you always leaves a trail of fond memories behind. You brighten my day and keep my smile up at night. I can't imagine losing you as a friend. You always have a way of making me forget about things that dull my mood. You never pee on my parade but instead waters it with a downpour of fun, celebration and rejoicing. But like the other friends, here's a note of caution about you. Too much of you may 
bloat me up from experiencing life as it is meant to be experienced. You can be overprotective and keep me from savoring the less-buoyant emotions that would help me to mature. You only want me to see the bright side of everything and shield me from the side with scant lighting. But sometimes, the bright side may blind me to what I am supposed to see in order to get a better grip on reality. My concern is that you may keep me in a perpetual state of naivety and unpreparedness 
for the rigors of life. I may only see one side of things and lose precious perspective on the other side. As a friend, I have no doubt you mean well and I should be thankful for your uplifting friendship. But, as the saying goes, too much of anything is, well, too much. So, with this in mind, I will always treasure your companionship in my life and will look to you when I am feeling down.

I guess each of you, that is, anger, sadness and happiness, has a
 part to play in my life. Some ought to play a larger role and some smaller. It all boils down to a matter of degree. I will therefore take you guys with me and allow each of you to move me forward with happiness as the wheels of my carriage and sadness and anger the horses kept within the reins in my hands. Cheerz.