Some people refuse to say goodbye. They argue that it should only be used when you don't expect to see each other again. They prefer to say "see you later", "see you around" or some other phrase along the same line of thought: the promise of seeing the other person again. This is another of those cases when we treat the future as a fact, not as a possibility.

Some people refuse to say goodbye, not because of the promise of a future meeting, but out of fear of departure. They somehow think (or feel) that not acknowledging the end of a visit or a relationship will ward off the end. As if. That cheesy line about airports seeing more passionate kisses than weddings has a certain truth behind it, mostly because it's the point of no return, where people begin to see that distance is something real and not just a physical measurement.

I may be young, but I learned some time ago that I shouldn't be afraid of goodbyes--they will happen and sometimes I won't even notice that the parting of our ways is final. This is not a case of that "live as if it was the last day of your life" philosophy, it leads to every goodbye being more drama than it's worth. When I say goodbye I know that we may never see each other again, but I won't treat it as the Final Day of my life.

Saying goodbye is another way of saying "Thank you", for what we lived together, for the times we laughed and cried and for being part of my life for a few hours or a few years. Even when those goodbyes are final, one should be thankful for being alive, for the lessons learned and for taking a weight off one's shoulders.

It's never easy, of course. I won't pretend that some goodbyes don't hurt me and that I miss those people terribly. Being separated by death is awful, but natural. Being separated by life, greed, jealousy and forgetfulness is even worse. It will hurt, but goodbyes must be said when it's time.

Say goodbye to your good workmates, even if you'll see them tomorrow morning. To your spouse, to your kids and your parents when you leave home. Say goodbye to the cashier, the barber, the hot dog vendor and the teller, they might be here tomorrow, they might move somewhere else.

Say goodbye and think of the fact that maybe you'll never see them again. Hope for the best and think about it the next time you see them. And the next time and the next after that. Be thankful for that next time. Make a toast and say "Let there be another next time"

2013.12.12 Thanks to jessicaj's ching, I reached Lv. 3 with this writeup