I know.
I know that it shouldn’t have taken me so long to publish an article, especially when I said I’d write more this year. I know that it doesn’t matter how good this article is, it would have been better for me if I had written at least a couple since the last one.
I will attempt to—but I know that I won’t be able to make up for my inconsistency.
That has little to do with my ability, it’s just one of the ways of life. I’ve learned the importance of consistency: how you can’t substitute consistency with occasional efficiency.
A striker who scores 1 goal every match in the premier league would finish with more goals than the one who only scores a hat trick every 6 games.
The only time efficiency beats consistency is when it comes with consistency. Because that way, you’re in god mode, like Lionel Messi of 2012, or like I did with poetry in 2018. 🌚
Of course, the efficiency analysis I just gave is common knowledge and a popular opinion. If I’ve not written to you in a long time, you’d expect that I write something grander, right?
Well, that would have been nice, but, I’ve learned that even the most obvious things to me aren’t that obvious to a lot of people. In essence, as long as something makes sense, it should be said at every opportunity that it can be.
Because the best things to say are often not new things, but rather basic reminders: the words of God, “I love you”, “spend wisely”, “quit smoking”, etc.
It doesn’t matter how basic something is, many people do not know it, or they need to be reminded. So, yes, I know “you can’t make up for consistency with efficiency”, is probably something someone reading this needs to hear (again) right now.
We can’t afford to be inconsistent. The design of humans is to keep on iterating and doing the work until the end. There’s no rest for you or me in this life, or else, we fall off.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been an amazing spouse all your married life, two months of being consistently horrible poses a huge threat to your marriage.
You have to keep on playing well to keep your place in the football team, you have to keep on publishing poems and articles to retain readers, you have to keep on being a sweet husband to keep your wife’s love tank full, you have to keep on worshipping to stay connected to God, and you have to keep on learning to have a sharp mind.
There’s no stopping for you, my friend. You can’t afford to be inconsistent.
But this article isn’t just about consistency. It’s one in which I intend to say things as the spirit directs.
So let’s talk a little about politics and different opinions…
Usually, I like to have my unpopular opinion conversations with friends and within spaces I can control. This allows me to properly re-evaluate my thoughts and know if there’s a need for a change in mindset.
However, in the case of “cutting off friends because of their political choices”, my thoughts remain the same — and somewhat unpopular.
I have heard and read different opinions on this topic, but not enough to change my mind.
It’s one thing to sternly disagree, but I do not think that friends should be cut off for making stupid (different) political choices, and here’s my argument:
- Firstly, my argument addresses friends, not strangers. Opinions of strangers shouldn’t bother anyone so much, because you can do only little about it.
And for someone to be your friend, I’m assuming that you share/have built a bond with them over other things — way more important things.
- Beyond the “choice” or “democracy” arguments people on my side make, I think you should not sever relationships because of political choices because not everyone sees what you see (haha, I’m using this line again).
Even if it’s so apparent that your preferred candidate is the right choice, that a friend doesn’t support your candidate doesn’t translate to them being less upright, or less patriotic. It could be because they’re not as intelligent or exposed as you. It could also be a thing of prioritisation — what things they prioritised in making their choice.
If it is enough to sever relationships due to one’s choice of a candidate without engaging the nuances, it should also be enough to form bonds with people who support the same candidates as us… but is it really?
Religion is fundamental to my existence, and together with a few other things, are more important to me than politics, but I can’t even sever relationships due to a difference in faith/belief. So why should I cut you off “just” because you support X, and I, Y? Well, maybe it’s just me…
Ultimately, values, beliefs, and interests, are some of the most important factors in relationships. And truly, a person’s political choices are not “always” reflective of these factors. You’re more likely to make a better decision when you make cutting-off decisions in a more nuanced way.
Of course, I expect rebuttals, and they’re welcome.
This is a comeback piece, so I do not think I want to overload you or overwork myself. While I think of the next thing to write to you, I’ll like to end this piece with a poem from a few years back.
Saying you want to love
Without having to shed a tearIs like you saying
You want to be the best athlete, without training
Or you want to be fire, without burning.It is you saying
You want to see the stars, without darkness
Or get a degree, without writing testsYou have to realize,
That to get the prize,
You’re going to have to pay a price.— Me, of course.