If I were to say you're smart, would it be because you're smart and what I've said is a fact and could be deemed as a confirmation by you of your intelligence, or could it be because I see you lack self-confidence and by saying that, your self-confidence would increase and you would be smart, indirectly because of my words, and my words indirectly become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Perhaps this is why the future is never made known to us, not just because of the many paths that lay ahead of us, but simply because our minds would not stop dwelling on it should we know what we are to be in the future.
If you were to know you will become a successful painter in the future, would you aim to score well for art and gain entry into an Arts College and learn about painting and mastering the techniques? Or would you simply choose whatever that interests you at that point in time, and as much as you can, not think too much about what you will be in the future?
Perhaps the reason why we never know our future is because knowledge of our future would impede our learning and limit our range of vision. After all, why consider a scientific career when you know you will be a musician? Or think about being a chef when you foresee you will be an architect?
But then, if I were to say I like you, would this be a self-fulfilling prophecy by itself, that is, I would end up liking you because my heart affirms what my mind thinks? Or is it merely a factual statement of confirmation of the existence of feelings towards you?
Would proclaiming the fondness spur on the growth and development of feelings; where every difference is viewed with a diffusion of excitement, and every similarity magnified gleefully? Or would it be the foundation of the feelings; like ploughing the field before you sow the seeds?
Maybe I can't stand and watch my friend be disheartened again and can only stand from afar. So that he won't suffer. But wouldn't I then be selfish, since I have yet to take into account your feelings?
I pray it won't be a choice I have to make between who to side on. For love should not breed quarrels or be the cause of conflicts, but rather it should heal wounds, bond hearts, unite minds and forge and strengthen relationships.
If it should hurt, if it should cause sorrow or despair, if it should sow seeds of jealousy, rage, malice or hatred, if it should break bonds and sever ties, if it should stand in the way between peace and merry making, then it is not love.
