Friends are important. Let me take that a step further....
Relationships are important. Being connected with people is important. In this life there are things that you will go through and those that you have relationships with are there to experience those with you. They celebrate with you, comfort you, grieve with you... I don't know where I would be without my friends.
Growing up I had to learn how to make friends. We moved around quite a bit and every time we moved to a new city, started a new school or a new church I had to start over. It was tough sometimes, but I made friends. I'm actually grateful for all of those experiences, because it taught me how to be a friend. It taught me how to be open to meeting new people and learning new perspectives. And looking back on my my entire childhood I'm so thankful I got to meet so many people and create connections. I went to college and had no problems creating bonds with new people. I even joined a sorority and that taught me so much about how to get along with so many different personalities. And no, that's not buying friends, because believe me, sometimes I felt like I wanted a refund. All of this experience helped me as an adult. I make connections everywhere I go and I love to stay connected.
A lot of people have hobbies where collect things... I guess I collect people. This has been wonderful, because as I travel for work (pre-Covid) I have someone to connect with in almost every city. Now that we're not traveling with work and doing virtual I've missed that. I guess this why I blog and make connections through social media. I absolutely love talking to people and learning about them. And it's the one thing that I love most about being a health coach. There are people that I've met that I would never have met in any other arena. And it's helped me connect with friends from my life in a deeper way.
One thing I've learned over the years though is that having friends and being a friend are very different things. There are times that I've struggled with that. I think we all do at time. Life gets in the way of being there all the time. But for those true friends, you're there in the big moments. I love how I can go for years without talking to someone, and then we somehow connect after a while and it's like no time has passed. We just pick up where we left off. The connection is still there and the love for them was never shaken. These are my favorite friendships, because you know that even though you don't talk all the time you still care about each other. And with the amazingness of social media, you get to still be a part of their life, even when you're busy. These friendships are precious.
Right now, I have a very dear friend that is going through a really tough battle. I have no idea how it will turn out, and frankly, I'm devastated. And I would never have known, if a mutual friend (whom I haven't spoken with outside of random comments through social media) hadn't picked up the phone and called me. That is when friends really show up. And I'm so insanely grateful for that. I then in turn rallied some other close friends to show support in this really hard time. Because my friend needs it. And we all need each other right now. This is what friends are for.
If you're reading this, I hope you have friends around you that love you. I hope you have an opportunity to love them back. Check in on a friend and see how they are. You never know when they might need that little pick me up that only a friend can give. And you also never know what they're struggling with and that little connection could help.
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