By Your Side

We were sitting side by side.
He was talking aloud of his frustrations and sadness of the softball match last Saturday.
He has been losing sleep thinking again and again of the last seconds of the game.

'You see, I should have managed to hit that ball. I should have gotten to it if I had paid more attention. We were doing well in holding up with the other team on the score. At that last minute, I just relax for a while and I let my guard down. Basically, I am the real reason that our team lost the game.' he said.

I didn't know what to say to him. There was a long silence between us.

At last he broke the silence and said 'You are not listening at all, are you?'

'I am listening.' I said. 'It's just that I don't have anything in my life that is as important to me as softball is to you. I never like sports and I never though of running as anything other than a hobby.' I paused for a few minutes.

'That is why I cannot say that I understand what you are feeling now. I cannot truly comprehend those feelings. After all, you are the one who practiced every day till late evening. You are the one who also lost the game. And you are the one who really feel the pain. I, on the other hand can only imagine it. I am not going to act as if I know what you are going through'.

'However, there's one thing that I can do. I can listen to you. Go ahead and talk about it. Talk about it until you get it all off your chest. Shout or cry if you feel like it. This is something that you have to get over by yourself.'

If there is light in the soul,
there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world."