All that you have is your soul

Oh my mama told me'
Cause she say she learned the hard way
Say she wanna spare the children
She say don't give or sell your soul away
'Cause all that you have is your soul

Don't be tempted by the shiny apple
Don't you eat of a bitter fruit
Hunger only for a taste of justice
Hunger only for a world of truth

Thought I'd made something that could be mine forever
Found out the hard way one can't possess another
And all that you have is your soul

I thought thought that I could find a way
To beat the system
To make a deal and have no debts to pay
I'd take it all take it all I'd run awayMe for myself first class and first rate
But all that you have is your soul

Here I am waiting for a better day
A second chance
A little luck to come my way
A hope to dream a hope that I can sleep again
And wake in the world with a clear conscience and clean hands
'Cause all that you have is your soul
-Tracy Chapman (excerpts from All that you have is your soul)

This is so true isn’t it? All that you really have is your soul. How often we try to take short cuts in our lives, a quicker way through no matter what the cost or how often do we walk over someone else's dreams, or break a heart or two along the way just so that we can get what we want.

We may blank these things from our minds, justify our actions and believe that we really are holier-than-thou, but in the end, all we have to face is our own conscience. I liken the conscience to a mirror, which we have to constantly face, day in and day out. I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that Conscience can a bitter mirror to face.

So it's best we try as best we can to keep it clean. You may not win any popularity contests or any fans along the way, but better that, than a sleepless night or a dive into a bottle just to forget.

All that you have is your soul..we do come into this world with our own soul, our very own imprint of our mannerisms, thoughts, relationship patterns, life dramas, it is like our own script and we keep re-inventing that script day-in, day-out. Eventually we leave with the same soul with an altered imprint only to go to the next place be it here or elsewhere. It is said that ultimately we are all moving to a clearer slate no matter what we may be doing. Surely that is promising!

So yeah, I believe a little self-enquiry and discrimination on the constructive or destructive thing to do in any given situation will help a long way.