The Pros and Cons

Photo credit: terranovesca from morguefile.com

He’ll be pleased if I phone to ask him how he is.

It will make me look considerate and he likes considerate people.

He’ll be reassured to see that I haven’t lost interest,

Which might make him happy and then I’ll have done him a favour.

If I phone him right now I’ll get to speak to him sooner

Than I will if I sit around waiting for him to phone me.

He might not want to phone me from work in case someone hears

And begins (or continues) to suspect that there’s something

Between us.

If I want to and don’t, aren’t I being a bit immature?

We’re both adults. Does it matter, with adults, who makes the

First move?

But there’s always the chance he’ll back off if I come on too strong.

The less keen I appear, the more keen he’s likely to be,

And I phoned him twice on Thursday and once on Friday.

He must therefore be fully aware that it’s his turn, not mine.

If I make it too easy for him, he’ll assume I’m too easy,

While if I make no effort, that leaves him with more of a challenge.

I should demonstrate that I have a sense of proportion.

His work must come first for a while and I shouldn’t’ mind waiting.

For all I know he could have gone off me already

And if I don’t phone I can always say, later, that I went off him first.

~ Sophie Hannah

__________________________________________________

It is difficult for some people to accept that love is a choice. This seems to run counter to the generally accepted theory of romantic love which expounds that love is inborn and as such requires no more than to accept it. ~ Leo F. Buscaglia

The Pros and Cons

Photo credit: terranovesca from morguefile.com

He’ll be pleased if I phone to ask him how he is.

It will make me look considerate and he likes considerate people.

He’ll be reassured to see that I haven’t lost interest,

Which might make him happy and then I’ll have done him a favour.

If I phone him right now I’ll get to speak to him sooner

Than I will if I sit around waiting for him to phone me.

He might not want to phone me from work in case someone hears

And begins (or continues) to suspect that there’s something

Between us.

If I want to and don’t, aren’t I being a bit immature?

We’re both adults. Does it matter, with adults, who makes the

First move?

But there’s always the chance he’ll back off if I come on too strong.

The less keen I appear, the more keen he’s likely to be,

And I phoned him twice on Thursday and once on Friday.

He must therefore be fully aware that it’s his turn, not mine.

If I make it too easy for him, he’ll assume I’m too easy,

While if I make no effort, that leaves him with more of a challenge.

I should demonstrate that I have a sense of proportion.

His work must come first for a while and I shouldn’t’ mind waiting.

For all I know he could have gone off me already

And if I don’t phone I can always say, later, that I went off him first.

~ Sophie Hannah

__________________________________________________

It is difficult for some people to accept that love is a choice. This seems to run counter to the generally accepted theory of romantic love which expounds that love is inborn and as such requires no more than to accept it. ~ Leo F. Buscaglia

Symptoms

Photo credit: westminister from morguefile.com

Although you have given me a stomach upset,

Weak knees, a lurching heart, a fuzzy brain,

A high-pitched laugh, a monumental phone bill,

A feeling of unworthiness, sharp pain

When you are somewhere else, a guilty conscience,

A longing, and a dread of what’s in store,

A pulse rate for the Guinness Book of Records -

Life now is better than it was before.

Although you have given me a raging temper,

Insomnia, a rising sense of panic,

A hopeless challenge, bouts of introspection,

Raw, bitten nails, a voice that’s strangely manic,

A selfish streak, a fear of isolation,

A silly smile, lips that are chapped and sore,

A running joke, a risk, an inspiration –

Life now is better than it was before.

Although you have given me a premonition,

Chattering teeth, a goal, a lot to lose,

A granted wish, mixed motives, superstitions,

Hang-ups and headaches, fear of awful news,

A bubble in my throat, a dare to swallow,

A crack of light under a closing door,

The crude, fantastic prospect of forever –

Life now is better that it was before.

~ Sophie Hannah

____________________________________________

You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book (Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death.
~ Anaïs Nin

Symptoms

Photo credit: westminister from morguefile.com

Although you have given me a stomach upset,

Weak knees, a lurching heart, a fuzzy brain,

A high-pitched laugh, a monumental phone bill,

A feeling of unworthiness, sharp pain

When you are somewhere else, a guilty conscience,

A longing, and a dread of what’s in store,

A pulse rate for the Guinness Book of Records -

Life now is better than it was before.

Although you have given me a raging temper,

Insomnia, a rising sense of panic,

A hopeless challenge, bouts of introspection,

Raw, bitten nails, a voice that’s strangely manic,

A selfish streak, a fear of isolation,

A silly smile, lips that are chapped and sore,

A running joke, a risk, an inspiration –

Life now is better than it was before.

Although you have given me a premonition,

Chattering teeth, a goal, a lot to lose,

A granted wish, mixed motives, superstitions,

Hang-ups and headaches, fear of awful news,

A bubble in my throat, a dare to swallow,

A crack of light under a closing door,

The crude, fantastic prospect of forever –

Life now is better that it was before.

~ Sophie Hannah

____________________________________________

You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book (Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death.
~ Anaïs Nin