Hope and the Hashtag

This is the story of the innocuous Hashtag. 

Though it was a part of the prestigious ‘Punctuation Family’ who were recognized and used worldwide, the poor Hashtag was the black sheep. 

His siblings Comma and Full Stop possessed the power to make the greatest men pause; 

Question Mark contributed to great innovations and discoveries;

Exclamation was almost a celebrity, making rare dramatic appearances and great impacts;

even his cousins, Bracket, Quotes and Slash were upstanding members of the grammar community.

Poor Hashtag, though he was always invited and present, everywhere the family went, nobody really knew what he did. Try as they might, they couldn’t find much use for him. Conversations with him were practically non-existent. The rest of them tried to include him, but secretly they simply felt sorry for him. So they gave him an honorary position here and there…on the telephone’s dial or on people’s addresses but it really was just a matter of time, everybody reckoned, before he died a natural death. 

Until, one day, just like that, everything changed! The outside world revolutionized! Something called the ‘Internet’ was invented and then further developed into the Social Network. 

Human beings were now reaching out to millions of others with the click of a button. It was an extremely exciting time in the world. And suddenly, out of the blue, the now comatose Hashtag was miraculously revived! Social networking was extremely forgiving towards the abuse and misuse of the Queen’s Language. 

‘U cld now 4get to rite wel n punctuations wrnt evn required so long as u dint 4get 2 use the #’

‘Tagging’ someone was the ‘it’ thing to do, to draw their attention and display your emotions or multiply your earnings.

Just like that, who was the new and improved, instant global sensation now?!

Let this story of the Hashtag’s meteoric rise to success be a lesson to us. A lesson in wishful thinking, of faith and perseverance. To never lose hope! Even if success eludes you….the world pities you, despite your trying as hard as you possibly can, with nothing going your way. When you lie they're ignored and forgotten, simply remember that if it’s meant to be, it will be…even if it takes decades, success will come… eventually….and effortlessly. 

Because someday, somewhere, as Aristotle is credited to have said, “where the needs of the world and your talent cross, therein lies your vocation!

#parenting #motherhood #lifeslessons #lifegoals #humanity #lifeslessonsfrommyfather #thingsiwantmychildrentoknow #hope #success