Honesty Never Felt so Perfect
by Keith G. Zimmer

 The following is not an ordinary article; please do not treat it as such. This is a mission statement, a voice for the future, a new beginning, and the death of a lifestyle that should have been killed by me . . . and all of you many years ago!

  The basis of friendship is supposed to entail a certain amount of trust, respect, and thought for the well-being of those you associate with. The special bond of friendship has been flawed, and mightily taken for granted. We, as people, need to get back to basics, relearn the meaning communal bonding, and the deep understand a true friendship requires. Personal one-on-one confrontation is often replaced with a "he said, she said" folklore that blurs the line between responsibility and accountability. What happened to the days when people would solve problems through verbal communication, understanding, and an eventually compromise? 

  The amount of negativity in this country is nauseating. We have everything literally handed to us on a silver (and sometimes golden) platter, yet, we always find something to complain about. I am going to let everyone in on something right here and now: most of our problems are small, minuscule, and not even on the radar compared to the issues much of the world faces on a daily basis. We are a spoiled group of people, and America is hated because of its imperialistic and often arrogant attitude. Here, in the United States, we complain about the price of our $300 iPods, whereas people in other countries are ravaged by crippling disease, and poverty-stricken hunger; the rationale does not add up.

  Furthermore, the amount people make fun of each other in this day and age is mind boggling . . . and it only gets worse from there. As a population, we are busy people; most of our time is either spent at work, school, with the family, or out with our friends. Mix in all of that with a healthy social life and we are spreading ourselves pretty thin, however, we still mange to make time to shoot barbs at the innocent passerby. Often, we have no idea who these people are, where they come from, or what they could be going through at the time. All we care about is a good laugh, a simplistic, yet, ignorant chuckle to suppress the flawed imperfections that exist within our own lives. Regardless if the person can hear the insults or not, this practice still enables certain sense of negativity that needs to start being avoided by everyone. Negativity is like a disease that breeds contempt, and eats away at the very foundation at which humanity was created. 

 In closing, life is hard; it has many challenges and pitfalls. No one person can make the world a better place; it has to be a collective effort amongst those who want to make a change, and those who have the "know-how" to do so. The time has come for personal growth . . . and the "day to day" gossip has to stop now! We are capable of so much more, yet, we do so little to create a better situation for ourselves and the people around us. Take value in true friendship, the benefits can and will be truly rewarding. Lose the second face, and proudly display the one God gave you, even if it means standing up for whom or what you believe in the face of persecution and self doubt. This is your mission, should you choose to accept it the entire complexion of your life may just change, forever!

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please contact me at keithzimmer@yahoo.com.