WHEN was the last time you opted for a conversation face-to-face over a phone call or an e-mail? Admittedly, keeping in touch with friends through text messaging and e-mail is more convenient. You don't need to set a date to converse. In between meetings, in between chores, you and a friend can swoon over your latest celebrity crushes or talk about current events. All it takes is punching in letters, numbers, and the "Call" or "Send" button.
Nothing compares to having that conversation for real, though, catching those words as you see them pour out of your friend's mouth. Nothing compares to seeing your friend's eyes glisten as she talks about her wedding, or going for high fives in between talks with your buddy. Then there are the hugs and kisses, the handshakes and gestures. So much emotion can be conveyed without the use of words.
With face-to-face time, there's also the fact that you both made time to meet. It shows how you value each other's presence even more. Even with all the rushing and the work, sharing a cup of coffee with a friend is a welcome breather, a much-needed reconnecting with your loved ones, even yourself.
Think about it -- how do we really know how someone is if we don't see them? Words can say a lot and can mean anything. While words can express thoughts, they can also be used to mask emotions. Seeing someone right before your eyes can help do without those word masks. See for yourself, and believe.
True, we can't be face-to-face with our loved ones all the time. But do make the effort and see the difference. Much can be said without words, and only being with your friend in the flesh can help you understand that.
April 2008 Archives
WHEN was the last time you opted for a conversation face-to-face over a phone call or an e-mail? Admittedly, keeping in touch with friends through text messaging and e-mail is more convenient. You don't need to set a date to converse. In between meetings, in between chores, you and a friend can swoon over your latest celebrity crushes or talk about current events. All it takes is punching in letters, numbers, and the "Call" or "Send" button.
Nothing compares to having that conversation for real, though, catching those words as you see them pour out of your friend's mouth. Nothing compares to seeing your friend's eyes glisten as she talks about her wedding, or going for high fives in between talks with your buddy. Then there are the hugs and kisses, the handshakes and gestures. So much emotion can be conveyed without the use of words.
With face-to-face time, there's also the fact that you both made time to meet. It shows how you value each other's presence even more. Even with all the rushing and the work, sharing a cup of coffee with a friend is a welcome breather, a much-needed reconnecting with your loved ones, even yourself.
Think about it -- how do we really know how someone is if we don't see them? Words can say a lot and can mean anything. While words can express thoughts, they can also be used to mask emotions. Seeing someone right before your eyes can help do without those word masks. See for yourself, and believe.
True, we can't be face-to-face with our loved ones all the time. But do make the effort and see the difference. Much can be said without words, and only being with your friend in the flesh can help you understand that.
POSITIVITY is a frame of mind. There are people who are cheery and optimistic by nature, while there are those who immediately resort to cynicism in a situation. I've always believed that happiness is a choice, so optimism is a choice as well. How does one see the glass half-full?
Some folks are innately cheery. Like they were born smiling, with sunshine streaming out of their body. You can sense this about them. It's not an energy that they get through pills or sports drinks. It's a naturally peaceful and positive vibe.
There are also those who have learned from experience. Stress may have gotten to them and they realized that maybe they do need to take it easy. Perhaps there's more to life than cramped schedules and being tired all the time. And so they change the way they see their everyday. They begin to find joy in small things, share more of their selves and slowly find their way to their own happy nest.
I am immensely thankful to both the innately positivity person, and the one who learns it along the way. These are the people I enjoy being with. They are the people who share my belief that positivity is not a denial of negativity, but of understanding it and doing something about it.
They can be random strangers, like the lad who gives up his seat on the train for an elder. They can be celebrities, like Oprah and her "Living the Best Life" magazine column. They can be teachers, like Randy Pausch and his last lecture. They can be family, like your mother and her sound advice. They can be friends, like the one who laughs with you and makes you feel the world isn't so bad.
Think of three people who've made you see the sunshine in everyday. Write them a note and thank them. Let them know how their positivity has influenced you. Then, think of three people you'd want to bring sunshine to. Write them a note and give them a little picker-upper.
Positivity is essentially a pay-it-forward activity. It is meant to be shared. So go spread the happy love your way. It'll come back full circle. You'll also be doing your part in somehow bringing about a little world peace. Positivity for world peace. That doesn't sound too bad at all.
Now go thank those three people and spread happiness to three more.
ONE mark of a good friendship is reliability -- knowing you can depend on each other no matter what. There are friends we hardly see because of distance or conflicting schedules. But when we do make the time to sit down with them, it feels like we just saw them yesterday. The conversations flow smoothly after "how are you's" are exchanged. There is no hint of awkwardness despite not seeing each other face to face in ages. Have you ever felt this way? That when you meet up, BOOM!, you are reminded of why you clicked so well in the first place.
Sometimes I take this for granted. I think, know and feel that my truest of friends will be there for me no matter what. I understand that they're immensely busy with their own lives, as I am with mine, so meet-ups get rarer. At the back of our minds, we all know that when we need each other, we'll be there. No doubt about that.
But why wait for that time of need? Pick up your phone and give that friend a call. Make those "how are you's" more frequent, even if it's just over the phone, or a quick e-mail. A 5-minute chat or a 5-minute e-mail is a fast but thoughtful way to keep each other feeling extra cared for within this already special bond of yours.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," one quote says. But another also goes, "Out of sight, out of mind." While the truest of friendships takes less maintenance than others, it needs the most nurturing.
