The other day I was driving a friend home after an afternoon out together. We had a good time, talked about life, bowled maybe a couple of games, had lunch, you know, the typical all around good day. At the end of this typical ride, my friend had said something rather profound, but for him, it was again typical, however lost that concept might be on him. We said our usual goodbyes, not meaningless or rehearsed, just typical, like the rest of the day. As I drove away it occurred to me that I might never again see my friend (I don't know why, but these kind of thoughts often enter my head; not necessarily negative, but decidedly a completely different tangent, to be sure). It got me thinking that I should have told him the important things instead of the normal things that are so very common in our encounters, before we parted ways. Should have told him that he had no idea how inspiring he'd been to me over the many years, should have told him that it always amazed me that he was so clueless about just how profound he could be, and that that in itself was a great asset, able to help him keep pure and pride free once he
discovered how deep his words could be. Should have told him that I value him more than almost anything in this life, that without him, I would have never had a prayer of turning out to be the person I am today. My friend is not the point of this story, but more of a catalyst. We all have people in our lives, people that we hold things back from. For whatever reason, we idly fluff our conversation, and leave so many important, genuine things unsaid. Perhaps it's because of the conditioning from society, perhaps it's pride or bashfulness. Whatever the reasons are, they aren't good enough. Instead of saying all the things I should have said to my friend, I said "Alright man, stay cool. Hit me up later or something". The difference of the levels of empowerment and encouragement between what I said and what I should have said is beyond comparison. What positive, inspiring, raw energy there is in saying what we should have, instead of the typical. How much better off would each of us be if we all did this? Take the time to be honest with one another. Not just close friends, but every friend. Build one another up with truthful little quips, never lip service, never cheap compliments, just being real, just being true. Set aside worrying about sounding foolish or mushy, and just let somebody know about something you've taken from them to become a more complete person. If that had been the last time I saw my friend, that day of my story where I fed him the accepted, lazy regularities of conversation, what of the undone potential? (editorial note - there, M.A., told you I had a less heavy post coming up. Pbbbt!)
