There are very few things that I believe the words “never” and “always" apply to. I’m a firm believer in the fact that we can’t be 100 percent certain that we never or always do something. Times change. People change. Why rule out something completely or leave no room for changing your mind? It can be easy to believe that you’ll never do something, but in the end, you don’t know. I don’t know that I’ll never learn a certain language, or that I’ll always love penguins. Sure, I can’t see myself ever not liking penguins, but I just don’t know.
However, there is one thing that I am self-consciously making sure I never ever do. And that’s saying the word “goodbye.” It’s a simple enough word meaning “a concluding remark or gesture at parting — often used interjectionally,” or “a taking of leave.”
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Goodbye must be one of the most said words every day, but I do not like to use it and I don’t think that I ever will. I don’t like the fact that it tends to imply that there’s some sort of ending. Goodbyes always feel like I’m not supposed to see the person again, which I refuse to accept. I prefer to be under the assumption that I’ll see everyone again. Sometimes I question myself whether or not that’s a realistic belief, but I also think that if I didn’t think like that, I would fear every time I parted ways with someone.
Instead of saying goodbye to anyone, I say “see you,” or “see you later.” That way, I’m certain that I’ll see them again. Whether it’s the next day or years later, I’ll see them again. It doesn’t matter when I’ll see them again, just that I will see them again. That’s the most important thing to ensure for me.
I think that one of the things that I’m worried about is that my last words to someone will be goodbye and I don’t want those to be my last words to anyone. While ‘see you’, aren’t the greatest last words to anyone either, they, at least, make it known that I will see them again. I don’t know under what context, time frame, or how, but I know I will see them again somehow.
No matter what, there are much better things to say to something than goodbye. There's nothing meaningful behind goodbye like there are behind other word choices you could pick. Just look at some of the classic movie quotes about saying goodbye.
