Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.
~Francesco Guicciardini~
Once in awhile, you start to reflect on things that mean something to you. Family, health, safety… and friendship. With divorce rates higher than success rates in marriage, with disease and cancer and health care crises everywhere we look, with the economy low and jobs scarce, there sometimes seems like there isn’t a lot to look forward to, and not a whole lot of purpose to our lives. And then we remember that our lives are filled with people we call friends.
Some friends we have had for what seems like forever. Like the sun in the sky or the sand beneath our feet, they are constant and always with us; they seem to change very little, or at least change with us, and they endure and last. Other friends are like the ocean tides; they come and go, rise and fall, having a purpose in our lives and then distancing themselves for whatever reason. There are friends who we are immediately able to be ourselves around, with whom there are no awkward silences or embarrassing moments that we can never live down. There are friends who are there simply for entertainment or because we share a common space but in whom we can never confide or fully know. There are the friends we learn from, sometimes the hard lessons… sometimes the worst; that people are not always kind or nice, that people are not necessarily what they seem, and that people cannot always be what we had hoped for.
But always, there is the appreciation for friendship. The ways in which we grow and change in life are varied and unexpected. We may become what we never believe we would have, do things we never felt capable of, or need help we had always thought we could avoid, and in these moments, we find out who our friends are. Every friend we have made is worth having, because everyone we let into our lives shows us not who they are, but who we are.
Just over a month ago, we asked you to go on a mission (in the form of a giveaway) to find us more friends. We may be a business, but we would like you to think of us as more than that. Already, you have brought us almost 200 new friends to learn from, share with, and enjoy! Thank you so much for the opportunity to connect with new and different people, to share the message of sharing and helping with those you know, and for the kindness and love you show when you share our message with the world. We really appreciate you, for all that you do, for the supportive and kind things we see you saying to one another on our Facebook fan page, and for the laughter and joy you bring to our lives. Not a day passes that one of us here doesn’t see, and appreciate, your participation in what we are trying to do. Making a difference in the world is a big job, and we’d like to think that together, we are all doing it. Your help is paramount, and doesn’t go unnoticed. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Please share with us a little bit about your friends below. How have they impacted your life for the better? Let’s hear a little friendship appreciation from your perspective!
Recently there was a big shift in my friendship life. Someone who used to mean more to me than just about anything (for reasons that are too personal to share) stopped having that sort of significance in my life. I still think of that person almost daily and look back positively (for the most part) at the important role they played in my life, but I guess... I don't know... I didn't need that person anymore?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really cold, doesn't it? There's really no way to put to words why (really why) I pulled away from our friendship after a blow up between us. I just did. It's almost like that person was my favourite jeans for a really long time, but after a while, the jeans wore in parts, they didn't sit well on the waist, and acidwash was just not working anymore, no matter how much I wanted it to at the time. Eventually, no matter how much you love that pair of jeans, you have to remove it from your closet.
This served as a reminder that friendships really are fluid, much like the tide. Sometimes they flow with you gently, providing a wonderful view for you to look upon. Sometimes they make waves, crash into you and create havoc. But even when they create devastation, they can leave you in their wake smoother, more serene, more open and inviting for other tides to make their impact on your shores.
Friendships are a vital part of your being. The quantity - or even quality - of those friendships is not what is important to our souls. It's how we learn who we are as individuals through our interactions with our friends. It's how we take our experiences with them, both good and bad, and mold ourselves into the person we want to be. We can't truly know who WE are until we see how our friends percieve us, as they are our mirrors.