Say Nice Things

You know what would be super great? I mean, something seriously fantastic that I would appreciate truly and sincerely?

I'd like people to say nice things to each other. Say nice things that you mean and that you want them to know, but are too afraid to actually say. I read this article in some Readers Digest somewhere about love letters. Now, I think love letters are wonderful, timeless things, but I'm talking about anything nice to say. Not necessarily in-love sorts of things to say, but a text from an old friend saying, "I'm thinking of you" or "I miss you" or "You are the most interesting person on my News Feed," or really anything kind and sweet and unprecedented is fantastic. Unexpected kindness has the same effect on most people--or just me if you're all ogres out there--as receiving an unexpected college-fund donation. You didn't ask for it, didn't even know it was a possibility but there it is, and it's left you with this warm, glowy tingle in your stomach that stays there for a few days (or, if you get the college fund donation probably a few years/forever).

I got bored the other day in the car and I wrote down every single memorably nice thing that anyone has ever sent/said to me or someone I know, and everything that I'd want to say or have already said to someone. Here are a few examples.

I am so excited to see you, my pants are practically falling off.
You're hilarious.
~picture of a heart with the words "I Love You" on it~ A big hug for you!
And when I saw you again, you were actually prettier than I remembered. I didn't think that was possible.
I really like you. As everything.
I love you for all of the above.
I love you too.
You were the one for me when it was then. I wish I had known it.
You're stronger than you think, because you've lived through everything in your life. No one else has done that.
You really do have a fabulous ass, you know that?
You're too beautiful for it to be safe. I'm the James Bond type, so I'm going to have to "take you out."
I don't know if this is appropriate since we've just met, but you're going to marry me.
I miss you. -I'm standing right next to you! -I know, I'm just pre-guilting you so you don't leave.


Some of those are cheesy, yeah, but didn't you smile when you read that stuff? You want someone to say that to you, because you want to be wanted, to be loved and cherished and beautiful in someone's eyes. You want to say those things because you know it'll make someone else feel fantastic and on air for the rest of the day.

So say it! Say what you want because you only really have one chance to say everything. There's only one chance for every single decision that we make, and if you decide to err on the side of caution then you haven't made the right decision! What if she said she liked you too?!

Well, there's always the possibility that she's going to say she doesn't feel that way, but then you know. You know that you tried as hard as you could to tell her that you felt that way. And you lost a little and your heart is a little bit broken, but she is always going to remember you as the person who tried. The guy who gave it his best shot because he cared, and he wanted you to know. He took that risk because he thought it would make you both happy, and maybe it would have, or maybe you both would have ended up in pieces and confused about where to go after, but you would know.

I have regrets too. The above scenario happened to me, and I didn't take the risk, and it's something I have to live with every day. I think I made the right decision for me then and now, but I'm always going to wonder if I maybe made the right one.
Everyone has been on both sides of that conversation, and everyone has walked away. You've all been able to pick up and move on and breathe and breathe and breathe again. You might have felt like the whole world was going to come out of the sky, but you picked up and you cried and wished for things to be different and you made yourself feel better. You did all that and you moved on.

I have loved and cherished every single one of those people who said those fantastic things in the quotes up there. I have held them in the closest confines of my heart for as long as I possibly could and I can say that--for all except one--I have made sure that they all know clearly and concisely how I feel. Obviously some of those are friend-love, and some are more-than-friends-love. Some are tragic-love-that-turned-out-awfully, and some are well-we-gave-it-our-best-shot-love, and then there's still one that we haven't really put aside. There are so many types of love, and it's a waste not to embrace every single kind.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to write.
Love with your whole heart as wide open as you can. Get hurt, cry a little and make sure your heart bleeds just a bit.
Go out and break someone's heart, but then come back and try to fix it.
Make mistakes, go back and try to redo, redo, redo.
Learn if you can't, feel blessed if you can.
Talk in your sleep, and hope someone hears their name and sees you smile.
Tell Grandma you're thinking of her. Tell Mom you're thinking of her. Tell Dad. Tell your brother, your sister, your dogs.
Send a text because you want to say hello.

Never let anything fester in the middle, in your head, you'll only end up tossing it out with the rest of the trash you pick up during the day.

Love a lot, love hard, love everyone you can stand to talk to.

And because of this rant, I say that maybe unrequited love is still love. It's miserable love, but it's love.

So.

Love,
Miss Guided