Before I knew him, I didn’t pay any attention to him at all. I knew his name, and what stories people say about him. Basically I only knew him by his reputation, which is essentially all that people say about him. A patchwork of fiction and facts.
I AM familiar with the saying, "Never judge a book by its cover". However, I must confess that although I enjoy every opportunity to look at eye-candy, I’ve always thought/hoped that beautiful people should be shallow and a bit stupid. Solely, because it would be totally unfair to us mere mortals, if these creatures are also bestowed with intelligence and wit. An unfair advantage granted to them just by merely being born from a good genetic combo.
But this friend of mine, who later transitioned to become my "brother", proved that despite a hint of "shallowness", he is not that bad. He has a pleasant demeanour, a good conversationalist (albeit the limited range of topics), an all-rounder (academically & artistically) and a good sense of humour.
If there is one obvious flaw that he has, it is in his single mindedness to get what he wants. A person’s ambitiousness is something that I respect. But an obsession could bring about the destruction of a person or the collapse of his connection with the people around him. I don’t think this brother of mine has reached that point yet, but sometimes I wonder about him.
He once said to me, “I don’t believe in setting standards in terms of what I want in life, be it professionally or personally. Because when you set standards or criteria which you think might fit well with you, you are effectively limiting yourself in what you can do. For me, I’ll let God decide what is best."
Hmmm… Having known him for a while now, I wonder if this is still true…
