The long process of embitterment

“Who dares wins.“
- British Special Air Service motto

I have learned to apply this motto in my own life. Three simple words whose impli­cation is clear: one must be the aggressor in order to achieve their goals. It helps in war, but it also helps with daily life, from cold sales calls to dating to simply making friends. As simple as it may be, it took a small and seem­ingly insignif­icant event to solidify the concept in my mind.

It started on Craigslist. I started up an engaging conver­sation with a very sweet girl named Alexa. She had an infec­tiously cheery attitude, an inno­cence in her outlook in life. Yet she was not ignorant or unre­al­istic. We both shared some very important values; namely our views on romance and our choice of leisurely activ­ities. We even went to the same school. She and I were getting along quite well. In time, we became increas­ingly comfortable with each other, and our inter­action was soon dotted with flir­ta­tious remarks and light hearted affec­tions. She told me that if I were ever her boyfriend that she would never let me go. We had the magic of curiosity and the possi­bility of romance that laid ahead of us.

We had estab­lished a fairly consistent routine of commu­ni­cation. Then, out of the blue, she stopped responding to me. Natu­rally, I was a little disap­pointed. I thought things were going well. This behavior was incon­sistent. I chalked it up to some tech­nical diffi­culties or some rather busywork that she was involved with.

Alas, it was not to be, as is the case with most things in my life. About four days later, she got back in touch with me. Appar­ently she had met someone on the streets. She said that it was most unusual for her and that she was sorry for not getting back to me sooner. Alexa was now seeing someone. Being a one man woman, she could not date more than one person at a time. I agreed with her and wished her luck. I then proceeded to sit in my chair for several minutes, sulking at my misfortune.

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