Learning...

Where do you learn the lessons of life?  A favorite school teacher? A sunday school teacher or parent?  What about your grand-parents.  Tonight I've learned from a teenage girl. "Hello takes a few seconds but Goodbye takes a lifetime." (Mariah Peralez)   How often do we say hello, without ever thinking of the impact that we may have?  How often do we say goodbye and never again consider how this person has affected us?  Our cheerful hello is the beginning of a relationship that may last for minutes, hours or days.  It may be a pleasurable relationship or one that brings sorrow, headaches or even regrets.  Either way, it only takes a few seconds to say "Hello".   Goodbye, on the other hand, is often preceded by a relationship that has been positive and long lasting.   A situation that we hope will not end, even when we are separated by distances of thousands of miles.  Hello or goodbye? Either one can be positive or negative, depending on how we conduct ourselves during the ensuing relationship.  Our own outlook has an effect on everyone that we meet.  Our smile or our scowl, our positive or negative manner?  Each affects the other. A cheerful "Hello" and a tearful "Goodbye".  Together they say, " You are a friend that is important to me.  You are someone that I will miss.  You are someone that I can't wait to hear from again.   Think about it the next time you say "Hello".  It just might be the beginning of something really grand.  Just thinkin.....(and thanking someone special)