Words have power. Both positive and negative. With a few carefully selected words, you could turn a stranger into a friend, a friend into an enemy, an enemy into a love. All it takes is an understanding of people's motives and wants and needs, and your own. Compassion, social awareness, selflessness. Yes, words have power. But there's one word that is potentially the most powerful.
"Hi."
Hello. Hi. What's up. Any form of casual greeting.
The way our society is structured today is based around social contract, that is, the implicit agreement to behave appropriately in social settings, and follow unwritten social mores. However, this has translated and grown into a general isolation and indifference towards those not known to you. A person can live in New York City, and pass by thousands of people a day, yet still be completely alone, isolated, and friendless, until they hear a word.
"Hello."
It breaks the isolation, the metaphorical shell created by the policy of "keep to yourself". Hello can lead to many things, or nothing, but the base power of it lies.in the fact that it represents acknowledgement. Confirmation of the fact that you exist, you are not alone, and someone is choosing to acknowledge that for whatever reason. Many of my friendships have started because I said "Hello" and then kicked off a conversation. Even just that, "Hello" and a smile or a wink, can mean the world to someone who rarely receives even that.
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