Life is short.
If you truly love someone and care for them, let them know. It’s alright to lose your pride over someone you love, but it’s absolutely not alright to lose someone you love over your pride.
I have once been that person, that cold-hearted jerk. The one who never called you back, or actually.. never called. The one who didn’t return your “I miss you’s” and pretended not to hear you when you admitted “I love you.” The one who’d run for the hills as soon as you were about to even mention the ‘L’ word or were heading down a path that was even close to “I care about you.” or “I need you.” I had this whole “I’m gonna play you when you think you’re playin’ me or before you get the chance to so in the end I have the last laugh and I come out unaffected and you’re stuck there like what the hell just happened I thought I had her in the palm of my hand” mentality going on to have it backfire on me numerous times as I’d find out you weren’t really playin’ me in the first place and that I had just been an asshole by pretending to fall asleep or waiting for you to fall asleep on the phone just so I could mute your ass and talk to someone else then do the same to them. All bullshit aside, as much as I hate to admit it, I did actually care, in some cases more or less than others. I was just scared. Scared of letting someone in, allowing them to see my vulnerability. I’ve never liked showing people that I have weaknesses. I guess to me it has always been a sign of defeat. I have close friends who’ve known me all my life that have never seen me cry. And to this day, I still swear I will never ever cry over a guy. But I realized that at the end of the day, no matter how many dudes you have calling you back to back… there’s always something missing.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that, by having so much pride and not actually letting anyone in, I probably missed out on a ton of genuinely great guys. And when it did get to the point where I did care, I had too much pride to let them know that. And as soon as I realized that I started caring, my feet would magically spawn rockets and I’d book it. I’d just cut them off completely.
So don’t let your pride get in the way of love. Don’t have the Great Wall of China encircle your heart. It’s alright to open up sometimes and let people know how you feel. Now, I’m not saying rip your heart out and wear it on your sleeve for everyone to sample. You still have to be wise about who you’re opening up your heart for. Just don’t let stupid little things like pride and ego get in the way of getting to know someone. And granted, you may get hurt a few times.. but it’s experiences like those that force you to grow stronger. Like the great words of Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
And this doesn’t apply to just being in love or getting to know someone either. Whether your issue is your pride or you just simply “forget,” we all have been guilty, at one point or another, of not showing our appreciation to our family and friends as much as we should. So even if it’s as little as giving mommy a back massage, putting grandpas shoes on, or surprising a friend with their favorite movie and a box of oreos, do it because it shows them that you care a little that much more. We are also all told at some point that “actions speak louder than words,” but I believe that in some cases words can mean just as much, and if not, more than actions. You never know, a simple “I love you.” or “I miss you.” or “I’m glad that you’re in my life.” has the potential to turn someone’s gloomy, depressing day completely around.
Those of you who have only met me recently are probably thinking “What the heck, that doesn’t sound like you at all!” It’s because I’ve grown so much as a person since then. I’ve definitely learned how to swallow my pride whole. I actually have so much love I want to share that I sometimes go overboard and tell people way too much how much they mean to me. I’d much rather have it that way than to not say a word. I try to treat everyone as if I were never going to see them again. ‘Cause as cliche as this sounds, life is short. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, so you should take that into thought and let the ones who mean the most know that they mean the most every time you get the chance to. Only God knows how long they’ll be in your life and how long you’ll be in theirs.
