Friendship

Some thoughts about the people that we choose in our lives:

I believe that we meet some pretty incredible teachers in our lifetimes.  In the classroom of life our teachers are all around us.  They can be the person standing next to you in line, the friendly person that lends a helping hand, the rude sales clerk, the smiling child covered in sticky goo, the elderly person waiting in the lobby.  They all have something to teach us if we take the time to listen, learn and absorb the lesson of the moment.  

As an adult I have realized that the more responsibility we have the larger the blinders become. We have our own agendas and we focus on the steps to get it done instead of watching the process unfold before and around us. Children do not have these blinders. They see so much that we do not see.  My children have taught me some amazing things. I have to take my blinders off and let the little girl in me out sometimes so that I can see the world on their level and then I can remember the magic.  We all need to do this once in a while.

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”-YODA, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Friendships are great opportunities to grow.  The friends we have known the longest tend to know who we are sometimes better than we know ourselves.  I have friends that I can talk to once every few months and we just pick right up were we left off with no hesitation.  These relationships are a gift but they have to be taken care of as well. Just like an actual gift, if you unwrap it and oooo and ahhh then put it in the closet, it will remain out of reach. You have to nurture your friendships. This becomes complicated with our busy adult lives.  But the benefits of interactions with a real friend are valuable and opportunities to heal and grow. 

“There are people in my life who give me comfort when the going gets tough, as it invariably does. I can count on them for a shoulder to cry on. They will lift me up when I fall, they will hold me in their arms as I cry and tell me everything’s going to be okay. I am so thankful for those people, they are priceless.” –unknown

We’ll be friends until we are old and senile.

  Then we’ll be new friends. –unknown

Our childhood friendships teach us how to have a relationship and step outside of our egocentric selves.  These important friendships can be lifelong or transitional. Some of them can be painful but through the pain we learn what we need and what type of friend we want to be to ourselves and to others.  Like I said, everyone is a teacher.  Some relationships are not good for us and we have to let go of those friends. We can reflect on those friendships and remember the good times because no matter what there are always some good with the bad.  Along with letting go of the relationship we strive to let go of the bad feelings and dysfunction.  Let go and grow.

“Friends are God’s way of apologizing to us for our families.” –unknown