The Journey
I am blessed with good friends. Not just one or two, but several. Great friends.
It used to sadden me when they would leave, like after high school, after college, after moving abroad, or after grad school. When they married, had kids, or moved to new states for new jobs. With every stage of our lives, it seems we lose touch with those that once meant so much to us.
Recently, I have started to think about it like turns in our journey, or twined branches on our tree of life.
When we're young, like a sapling, other saplings easily twine around us. We make friends so quickly, and without judgement. As we grow, we drown out some of the other saplings. But maybe one or two wind around us and grow tall and strong with us. Those are the friends we keep for a lifetime.
As adults, special people will come into our lives, and our branches will travel the same path for a while, bold and sturdy. These are the friends that shape who you are, even after you thought you could no longer be shaped. These are the friends that you don't speak to for 6 months, and then pick up as if you had never left off.
It is one of my favorite things to catch up with those types of friends. There is no guilt about the silence in our busy lives. We just hug, smile and start chatting.
But occasionally, there are those friends whose branches will grow in opposite directions, and we lose touch. I get nostalgic just thinking about the late-night chats, family dinners and fun outings. Smiles and tears shared. Futures planned, but not lived.
Yet, our branches are flexible, and can continue growing without those friends. We can move on and meet new, wonderful people who will impact our lives in meaningful ways.
This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for old friends, new friends, and friends to come. I am thankful for the opportunity to live along someone who can shape me for good. I am also grateful when some branches are diverted or pruned out of my life. It's always for the better, though it may not seem that way in the moment.
It's all about the journey, after all.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
It used to sadden me when they would leave, like after high school, after college, after moving abroad, or after grad school. When they married, had kids, or moved to new states for new jobs. With every stage of our lives, it seems we lose touch with those that once meant so much to us.
Recently, I have started to think about it like turns in our journey, or twined branches on our tree of life.
When we're young, like a sapling, other saplings easily twine around us. We make friends so quickly, and without judgement. As we grow, we drown out some of the other saplings. But maybe one or two wind around us and grow tall and strong with us. Those are the friends we keep for a lifetime.
As adults, special people will come into our lives, and our branches will travel the same path for a while, bold and sturdy. These are the friends that shape who you are, even after you thought you could no longer be shaped. These are the friends that you don't speak to for 6 months, and then pick up as if you had never left off.
It is one of my favorite things to catch up with those types of friends. There is no guilt about the silence in our busy lives. We just hug, smile and start chatting.
But occasionally, there are those friends whose branches will grow in opposite directions, and we lose touch. I get nostalgic just thinking about the late-night chats, family dinners and fun outings. Smiles and tears shared. Futures planned, but not lived.
Yet, our branches are flexible, and can continue growing without those friends. We can move on and meet new, wonderful people who will impact our lives in meaningful ways.
This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for old friends, new friends, and friends to come. I am thankful for the opportunity to live along someone who can shape me for good. I am also grateful when some branches are diverted or pruned out of my life. It's always for the better, though it may not seem that way in the moment.
It's all about the journey, after all.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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