Friendships... Are Better Than Normal Ships.
Today I got a text right out of the blue from my friend Chelsea. It was more a surprise than your average random "Hey we should meet up!" because Chels is American and had significant problems with her visa last time she came to the UK (stupid immigration people) and I didn't even think she could come back here. Yet here she was... in Southampton of all places and free for a coffee! How incredible...
Seeing her again after over a year got me thinking about friendship. I realised I have quite a high expectation of friendship... sometimes it's quite unrealistic! As I move through life and bat from one place to another, I have collected a variety of friends from different circles. It always seems to be time to leave some behind, or time to get to know someone new. Both of these are incredibly daunting tasks, involving no small amout of risk and vulnerability. Yet I know how essential these relationships are to me while I try to cope with life...
I am a people person. I love to be involved with people, to get to know them, to share with them. And one of my love languages is quality time - so I tend to feel closest to the people I spent the most time with. It's maybe a bit ironic (or unfortunate? or interesting?) then, that my life tends to lead me back and forth between different groups of friends every few months. How do I view the friendships that I don't get to invest time in?
There are obviously those that are a fundamental part of my life - I can't imagine ever not being friends with some people and don't really consider that we would ever loose touch. However, there are many more I would love to spend more time with or keep more up to date with... but life just doesn't stretch that far!! It's these friendships that continually amaze me. Some you think are pretty solid but eventually end up just drifting away into nothing, until you become as good as strangers and there's little hope of reconnecting - those make me sad in a way I don't feel sad about anything else. But it's part of life I guess, everything has it's season. Learning to let go is as important as learning to hold on.
But for every friendship you have to let go... there's one that endures in the face of whatever seperation life's lottery calls in, and continues to bless and enrich your life despite distance or circumstance. These are the ones that yield untold joy in my heart, at the most unexpected times. I can never tell which friendships will stand the test of time in this way, and I think that part of the joy is that surprise when you discover another one :)
Seeing her again after over a year got me thinking about friendship. I realised I have quite a high expectation of friendship... sometimes it's quite unrealistic! As I move through life and bat from one place to another, I have collected a variety of friends from different circles. It always seems to be time to leave some behind, or time to get to know someone new. Both of these are incredibly daunting tasks, involving no small amout of risk and vulnerability. Yet I know how essential these relationships are to me while I try to cope with life...
I am a people person. I love to be involved with people, to get to know them, to share with them. And one of my love languages is quality time - so I tend to feel closest to the people I spent the most time with. It's maybe a bit ironic (or unfortunate? or interesting?) then, that my life tends to lead me back and forth between different groups of friends every few months. How do I view the friendships that I don't get to invest time in?
There are obviously those that are a fundamental part of my life - I can't imagine ever not being friends with some people and don't really consider that we would ever loose touch. However, there are many more I would love to spend more time with or keep more up to date with... but life just doesn't stretch that far!! It's these friendships that continually amaze me. Some you think are pretty solid but eventually end up just drifting away into nothing, until you become as good as strangers and there's little hope of reconnecting - those make me sad in a way I don't feel sad about anything else. But it's part of life I guess, everything has it's season. Learning to let go is as important as learning to hold on.
But for every friendship you have to let go... there's one that endures in the face of whatever seperation life's lottery calls in, and continues to bless and enrich your life despite distance or circumstance. These are the ones that yield untold joy in my heart, at the most unexpected times. I can never tell which friendships will stand the test of time in this way, and I think that part of the joy is that surprise when you discover another one :)
posted by Susie at
4:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home