By Coleman Morris ‘20

I had someone come up to me the other day, and he was a friend of mine who was clearly in love.

He was head over heals for this girl, his friend, someone who he kept close.

They had been friends for a while and he had this feeling of love, and compassion, and happiness for her right from the outset.

He just “couldn’t take it anymore” he said.

He had been living with this secret built up but didn’t know if he should tell this crush he’s cherished so very much, or if he should bury it

“Maybe everything is better that way, and that’s how it’s supposed to be, just friends.”

I told him one thing, “No, tell her”

He still wasn’t convinced that telling her was the right decision, and that maybe, the outcome would be disastrous.

So I the told him this story about another friend of mine who was in love too, and who had been in the same position as him.

For this story I’m going to call my friend Tom.

Tom was in love with his best friend, but was worried about denial, and was so worried he would lose what he had built up with this girl.

But after dealing with this struggle for too long, he couldn’t take it anymore, and decided to just say “ok.”

He told her, how he felt.

And guess what? The feeling was mutual.

Tom is still dating this girl to this day, and couldn’t be happier with his decision to be true to his heart, and tell her how he feels.

“She’s my best friend, and continues to surprise me everyday, if I didn’t build up the courage I wouldn’t have this, it’s one of the boldest things I’ve ever done, but one of the best.”

After hearing this story, about my friend Tom, he finally said he was going to tell her, no matter what.

So, he did just that. He told her.

The feeling, unfortunately, went unrequited.

After hearing the news, my heart sank. I have never felt such a deep rooted sense of regret, I felt like I had built him up only to watch him fall.

But he told me something, “no, it’s not your fault, thank you for this, I’m more happy than I’ve ever been with this situation, I no longer have that feeling built up in my gut that was telling me not to tell her.”

That’s a brave kid right there.

To confess one’s feelings to another is one of the hardest things to do. I’ve been there, it’s hard. And getting rejected sucks.

But, now he doesn’t have to ask himself this very question “what If I told her, what would it be like.”

He now knows he did everything he could, and is happy he did.

Even if you have to face rejection, do it, because don’t ask yourself that question, it will destroy you.

Go for it, don’t let it that question consume you.

Regret is one of the worst feelings one can have, and not doing what you can, is a one way ticket to regret.