Misconstrue

Some people say that we shouldn't read too much into what other people say. But sometimes, I think we should. A single word, otherwise misunderstood, could alter an entire sentence’s meaning immensely.  But sometimes, even if we understand correctly… well, this doesn’t mean that words said would forever hold true.

I guess it’s just the reality of things— one moment we mean what we say and the next moment we don’t. Sometimes we believe that what we say will always hold true and sometimes we don’t mean anything we say at all.

Because words are just that: words—meaningless strings of letters and spaces and punctuation marks in between. We’re the ones who put meaning into what we hear and read and say. We associate meanings and emotions into those that are not tangible. We put exclamation points and commas and periods, even though the periods should be ellipses, the commas should be semi colons and the exclamation points should be question marks. We let words lull us into a false sense of security— wrapping us around in blankets, deluding us into feeling comfort when we should be in unease. We rely heavily on spoken words and written messages. We see and hear and feel when we should comprehend, listen and understand. We accept what’s on the surface when what counts is what’s hidden underneath.

But all of this is part of who we are— human.

Faulty. Vulnerable. Naïve. Flawed.

And though it is because of words that we find ourselves lost and damaged, it is also in words that we find solace and recompense.

We make mistakes, we learn. The cycle repeats itself. We repeat mistakes, still we learn and still we do it again and that’s because we dare. We dare to believe. We dare to try. We dare to hope… And there’s nothing wrong with that. We owe ourselves that much. Better be fools with the strength to repeatedly try than to be fools who are afraid to risk failing again.

But with that said, when do we stop trying with the reason not being fear? Is there a limit? Or do we just keep moving and doing and attempting in the hopes of finally succeeding?