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.”
