Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved

Today, I want to tell you about someone I admire.

I've been friends with them for a long time now, they've been trustworthy and reliable when I've needed them most, when I've felt like they were the only one I could talk to. But I don't want to tell you why they mean so much to me. I want to tell you why they have so many friends, why they are admired and respected by people far older than them, why they mean so much to so many people.

If there's one thing I find amazing, it's when someone has a natural ease with people. I'm sure you've met someone who can talk to anyone, never forgets the little things about people and makes friends wherever they go. While my friend was great company when I first met them, they were not the person I just described. They worried a lot about what people thought, they couldn't remember everything anyone ever told them, they made friends, but they also made acquaintances. In short? They were human. But this human did something that most other humans will never bother to do - they taught themselves to be better at all of those unattainable social skills. They read books, they observed others, they talked about what they wanted to achieve, and they put what they learnt into practice. And the result? They are approachable, warm, communicative and open. They have so many friends, who respect and appreciate this person in the way they deserve. And the best part is, they're happy.

If there's one thing I find more amazing, it's when someone has the clear-sightedness to know who they want to be, and then has the courage to achieve it. This person, the one I'm so lucky to call my friend, had both of those things and I want to say how proud I am of him. To see the person he has become, through his own hard work and determination, is truly inspiring and makes me hope that one day I will be able to say I achieved a fraction of what he has.

So, to you, my friend, I want to say a few things. You deserve every bit of the confidence and self-assurance you have given yourself, and I hope that both will continue to grow. It makes me so happy to see how proud you are of yourself - to hear you say that you are now the person you always wanted to be is wonderful. The person you have become is someone I truly look up to, though, if what my mother says is true, I always did think you were pretty amazing. Thank you for every moment of the last two years.

Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about

At 11:42 last night, I had a bizarre craving to write, so this is the first (and last) time I'll blog something from my diary.

It is amazing how much easier it is to express yourself through EMC (Electronically Mediated Communication, AKA English teachers Made up Crap) than in person. Oh dear, I have dropped English and I'm still using this ridiculous jargon. Fuuck. Anyway. I do wonder if it's because in the flesh, or even on the phone, that person seems so much more real. Through, say, email there is no apparent recipient other than a jumbled assortment of letters, dots and underscores separated by an '@'. You are just emptying your mind on the keyboard then clicking it away into cyberspace. It's as though you're writing to the fictitious caricature of that person that you've built up in your mind and thus do not need to deal with the reality of the situation.

Another part of me thinks this is an incredibly pessimistic way to see it. While this may be partly true, I guess it's also because it allows you those extra few precious seconds in which to formulate a coherent sentence. When you are so overwhelmed with anger, love, excitement, guilt, fear, joy or what ever, it can be impossible to express, so attempting to produce the necessary words spontaneously can be somewhat of a challenge.

But then in a way it seems a shame we turn to these get-out-of-jail-free methods. By allowing ourselves time, we step back from reality and ignore the unwanted initial thoughts that yes, we did actually think. While it can be unnecessarily damaging to share our every thought, I wonder if we slightly undermine our ability to cope with emotional situations because we have the get-out of dealing with it from a distance.

This seems reminiscent of all the adults who say young people have no social skills because of the internet. That's just melodramatic and largely inaccurate. But maybe, just maybe, there are some things we don't deal with the way we should because of this damn EMC.

I'm sorry. I'll write something less preachy tomorrow.