Days after hearing Scott Fried speak at Syracuse University in the Schine Student Center, I can still see the pain in his eyes and the emotion in his voice as he looked at each and every one of us and said, “I am here because I want you to live.”
Fried spoke Wednesday about his experiences with HIV and how and why he contracted it. Fried was 24 years old when he found out he was HIV positive. At that time Fried was still struggling to accept the fact that he was a homosexual and enjoyed the comfort and feel of a man.
Fried explained that he never felt that he was enough. He said that was one reason why he continued to return to the arms of a man who did not even know his name. The fear of being inadequate is a very powerful emotion. As human beings all we want is to feel safe and loved and protected. We want to know that someone cares and accepts us for who we are, and for the secrets we keep in our pockets.
Fried often referred to the secrets in our pockets as the secrets which make up our true selves. These secrets answer the question; who are you when no one else is around?
Fried, like many young adults, struggled to find and accept the answer to who he really was. This uncertainty may lead to a feeling of not being enough as a person. It can lead to you feeling less than who you really are, helping you to make poor choices in order to hide those feelings.
Fried said maybe that is why he had unprotected sex that night. Maybe he was afraid if he stopped to say “Hey can we use a condom?” that this man would not want to be with him anymore.
To conclude the night Fried narrated a slideshow showing a few of his 129 friends who have died of HIV and AIDS.
awesome motivational quotes