A Slight Detour...

I realize I'm supposed to be doing a series on breakups, but as anyone who knows me can attest, I happen to be very easily distracted. That's why today's post is inspired instead by a stolen Facebook status...

Ahhh! To be or not to be, you have just been defeated; THAT is the ultimate question, at least as far as I am currently concerned.

Unless I'm the only one observant enough to notice this, you've probably found that "I love you" gets thrown around quite a lot these days. Sure, friends say it. It's just something they do. But your besties are people you know love you; it's not a very complex kind of love. It's a solid, I've-got-your-back type deal. You've know them for a while... you can trust a claim like that. Same with family; it's not earth-shattering, it's not unreliable, it just exists. You expect it.

But what about someone else? What right do they have?? Do they know enough about you to be able to mean something that ridiculous? Mainly, how do you know if they do? There's no real way to gauge how somehow feels about you, except for what they tell you. And considering the human race is one that fills its spare speech with lies, does what someone tells you they feel mean anything?

It could easily be an innocent exaggeration; something they don't even consider a lie, since it just pops out and doesn't mean much. Or, it could be a not-so-innocent exaggeration, one that comes from the exaggerator having an ulterior motive. But either way, where does that leave you?

Sometimes people just say things they don't mean. And then what?

"I wonder if you love me as much as you say you do."

Perhaps it's just a naturally cynical perspective that makes me suspicious; perhaps I'm the only one who this thought has ever even occurred to. But it's healthy to wonder.