“If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?”
(So much for the easy ones.)
There's someone I have known for a long time. He has never seemed very comfortable in his own skin: always seems nervous, always seems ill at ease with most of the people around him. The few glimmers I see of his true self are great. He's a really funny guy and has a lot to offer the world, but most of the time he fades in to the shadows. I would tell him that it is okay to be yourself. It's okay to admit to others -- and even more important to admit to himself -- how he feels. It's more important to be true to yourself than to other people or to a book.
(If he read this, I seriously doubt he would even realize I was writing about him.)
Why haven't I told him? I guess I'm as big a chicken shit as he is. I'm now too far removed from his life to easily be open with him. (Admittedly, openness is not something either one of us know much about.) I love him and want him to be happy.
Someday, when I'm strong enough, I hope I'll be able to help him be strong as well. Until then, these are just pixels on the screen.