From the very start, I've always had this problem.

I have a hard time greeting people.

I was never the best with words. 

Nor was I ever the best with expressing myself.

Do you know how important it is to acknowledge someone?

To just say, "hello"?

I wish I knew.

Growing up, I would always cry about how lonely I felt.

I was weak, sensitive and shy.

By the time I was a teenager, I became overly sensitive about the fact that my parents wouldn't greet me or talk to me anymore.

I felt....useless.

I remember the day my father called me into his office.

He told me, "why don't you ever smile?"

I couldn't answer him.

I didn't know what to say.

He was crying with angry, broken eyes.

At that moment I realized how much I've hurt him as well.

All I had to do was take a second each day once I got home from school to greet him.

But I didn't.

I hurt him, and that's something I regret deeply... for instead of realizing this, I kept blaming him for not greeting me, even though I also didn't take the step to greet him.

Just one simple, "hello".

That's all I had to do.

You see, as humans, it's natural for people to blame others for our mistakes.

It's about time I take responsibility for myself.

We have only one life to live...

 

so why waste it?

 

All in all, what I'm trying to say is...

If I were to change one thing in my life right now,

it would be to love my parents, family and friends the way everyone deserves to be loved.

I don't want to be afraid anymore.

I want to have the power to greet others openly.

To look them in the eye without fear.

To tell them I love them.

To acknowledge their existence.

Because for my 17 years here on Earth, I have lived a life many wish they could have.

And for my parents, they've lived more than double of my life just to someday raise a family of their own.

 

The day I can look in the eyes of my parents and tell them I love them without the fear of them not saying it back will be one of the days worth living for.

 

There is a difference between living and surviving.

I want to embrace the life I'm living...

Because someday my life will flash before my eyes...

 

I want it to be worth watching.

 

In the end, my set goal is to greet my parents at least once a day.

Because I know one day they'll be gone.

 

Hello Mom and Dad!

I just want to say...

 

I love you.