Forever?

Reflection Paper on Chapter 3 of John Haughey’s

Should Anyone Say Forever?

            In this paper, I would like to address the notion of permanence as conceived in the present times and how it is being overused, to the point that it is already losing its meaning.

 According to the chapter, people often measure the superior quality and quantity of their commitment through the use of the word “forever.” This poses a problematic as “the promise of forever is becoming obsolete.” In the present days, most people have a sweeping overfamiliarity of the word “forever.” This overfamiliarity tends to lead towards the watering down of the meaning of the word. Instead of focusing primarily on the permanence of a commitment, the word “forever” no longer means an immeasurable span of time, but a word that may or may not be permanent. “Forever,” nowadays, is used too much. Some use it to sugarcoat words of endearment. Some use the word to refer to a very long span of time. However, in the literal sense, “forever” does not only denote a “long span of time,” but an eternally immeasurable span of time. It is arguably a heavy word that is often misused in a very light context. Thus, there arises different misconceptions and skepticism nowadays when people describe their commitments as one that would last “forever.”

The real trouble here is not that the word “forever” should not be used. It is that people should consider what the permanence of commitment really means. Otherwise, there would be misconceptions, miscommunications, and even shattering of commitments merely because of the lack of understanding of the word. It is not and will never be wrong for anyone to quantify and qualify their commitments in terms of spans of time, or range of vitality. But it is always of utmost importance for people to realize the real meaning and implication of a commitment sealed by the word “forever.”