This is a copy of a facebook post and conversation that took place one year ago today. You can see the original facebook conversation here. I have posted it here on my website because I must never forget what the experience taught me about myself and thereby the world which is just the people in it. Everything else is just an accessory to the real business of life which is about your relationship with the people you meet.
· Gosport ·
MY KIND OF PEOPLE
I fell into conversation with somebody in Gosport who was just my kind of person. The moment I saw her I knew she was something special. Though we were total strangers, we talked animatedly about subjects that only good friends can talk about. She listened to what I was saying, understood what I was getting at, laughed at my jokes and knew the difference between irony and sarcasm. Looking back on it today I suddenly realised what it is that makes life worth living and why I have been so bored with life for so many years – so bored I became angry far too easily when patience and understanding would have been far more productive. The only way I knew to avoid being bored was to go out salsa dancing which I have loved doing for over 12 years but that was avoiding the real problem!The real problem is that I haven’t often enough been in the company of my kind of people and now I know that I don’t even have to be in the company of my kind of people to become the good man I always knew I could be without knowing how. All I have to do is think of the last or any time I had a conversation with my kind of person and I find myself smiling inwardly at the pleasure that the mere thought of it brings me! I have arrived but I am certain that it will be years before many of those who think they already know me realise the change in me. My real friends won’t notice any difference of course because when I was with them I was the good man I wanted to be without any effort whatsoever!
I fell into conversation with somebody in Gosport who was just my kind of person. The moment I saw her I knew she was something special. Though we were total strangers, we talked animatedly about subjects that only good friends can talk about. She listened to what I was saying, understood what I was getting at, laughed at my jokes and knew the difference between irony and sarcasm. Looking back on it today I suddenly realised what it is that makes life worth living and why I have been so bored with life for so many years – so bored I became angry far too easily when patience and understanding would have been far more productive. The only way I knew to avoid being bored was to go out salsa dancing which I have loved doing for over 12 years but that was avoiding the real problem!The real problem is that I haven’t often enough been in the company of my kind of people and now I know that I don’t even have to be in the company of my kind of people to become the good man I always knew I could be without knowing how. All I have to do is think of the last or any time I had a conversation with my kind of person and I find myself smiling inwardly at the pleasure that the mere thought of it brings me! I have arrived but I am certain that it will be years before many of those who think they already know me realise the change in me. My real friends won’t notice any difference of course because when I was with them I was the good man I wanted to be without any effort whatsoever!