I don't remember that at all?

There are words I have never been able to forget.

Several years ago, there was a period when things weren't going well with my work or my relationships, and I had completely lost my confidence.

It was a time when things were also strained with my partner in Kobe, and everything I did seemed to backfire.

One day, when I was starting to lose sight of my own worth, I went into a takoyaki shop in Osaka with a senior colleague I respected.

As I ate the piping hot takoyaki, blowing on it to cool it down, I, feeling completely broken, couldn't help but let out my frustrations.

Maybe no matter what I do, it's just not going to work out.

At that moment, my senior put down their chopsticks and said:

It'll be fine. You've always done your best work at the very last minute.

I was saved by those words.

I felt like my strengths, which I hadn't even realized myself, had been acknowledged, and I remember my heart feeling warm inside.

Since then, I have used those words as a charm to overcome many obstacles.

And recently, I had the opportunity to have a drink with that senior for the first time in a while.

I expressed the gratitude I had been holding onto for so long.

Thanks to the words you said to me back then, I am who I am today. Thank you so much.

Then, my senior tilted their head while holding their beer glass.

Huh? Did I say something like that?

I don't remember that at all.

For a moment, I was taken aback.

Even though those words had supported my life so much, the person who said them had completely forgotten them.

However, I realized it later.

People imbue their words with essence not when they aim to save someone, but when words emerge naturally and unconsciously from the depths of their hearts.

Because they are uncalculated words, they reach deep.

And the person who said them doesn't remember, because they were just saying what came naturally.

Whether they remember or not was not important.

If you have ever been saved by someone's words.

That is proof of true kindness, delivered without the other person's intent.

And perhaps, a word you said casually might have saved someone's life without you even knowing it.

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