Conflicting ideals. Different paths.
Familiar memories brought about by photo hunting caused an overflowing sensation of nostalgia. Then, something struck me. For the majority of my stay in Pisay, trends show that the more I spend time with a person, the closer our friendship becomes, which is logical, but not necessary. However, I have observed two exceptions to the trend. I have known both of them since first year. One remains to be one of my closest friends even if we only get to communicate a few hours each day. The other, however, becomes more distant even if there is a generous allocation of time possible for communication.
I tried to look for reasons why. For the first, I attributed it to the susceptibility of his mind brought about by being younger. For the second, I attributed it to his strong will and firm stand on his life principles.
But I wasn't content with my explanation and so I continued to look for answers. Further understanding led me to believe that our very own principles and values are different, maybe opposite in a way. I believe in a relatively more conservative and idealistic way of life. He believes in a more liberal and realistic way of life. I was a 60% traditionalist and 40% progressive. He was 70% progressive, 30% traditionalist. There is the source of conflict.
We did become closer even if only a little. We aren't always on the opposite ends of stick. There are moments when we stand on common ground. There are also moments when we shift our separate paradigms in order to understand where each other comes from, but our refusal to concede and fully accept the other's paradigm hinders a closer friendship.
Other than having conflicting ideals, I saw another hindrance. Although we did try to understand each other, we refused to divulge our life to each other for fear that any information we give can be used against us. Both of us didn't want to let down our guard.
To sum it all up, the sad thing here is that there is an endemic lack of trust between the two of us.
I tried to look for reasons why. For the first, I attributed it to the susceptibility of his mind brought about by being younger. For the second, I attributed it to his strong will and firm stand on his life principles.
But I wasn't content with my explanation and so I continued to look for answers. Further understanding led me to believe that our very own principles and values are different, maybe opposite in a way. I believe in a relatively more conservative and idealistic way of life. He believes in a more liberal and realistic way of life. I was a 60% traditionalist and 40% progressive. He was 70% progressive, 30% traditionalist. There is the source of conflict.
We did become closer even if only a little. We aren't always on the opposite ends of stick. There are moments when we stand on common ground. There are also moments when we shift our separate paradigms in order to understand where each other comes from, but our refusal to concede and fully accept the other's paradigm hinders a closer friendship.
Other than having conflicting ideals, I saw another hindrance. Although we did try to understand each other, we refused to divulge our life to each other for fear that any information we give can be used against us. Both of us didn't want to let down our guard.
To sum it all up, the sad thing here is that there is an endemic lack of trust between the two of us.
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