I am extremely blessed to have so many special people in my world but today I specifically want to focus on friends. To me, a friend is someone who brings value to your life. They are people you have on that list to call when you need someone or something. They have the ability to make you feel like the best version of yourself simply by being around them. They even know the good, bad and ugly about you and accept all of it. There is a line between friends and people in your life who are just acquaintances and often I think we confuse the two.
So after a FANTASTIC weekend in DC with some of my favorite girls from college, I am reminded why these people are in my life. I do admit that at times I am guilty of taking them for granted. We been friends for almost 10 years and through it all, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve really grown up together. The faces in the group may have evolved over the years, some new ones were added and some old ones have left us but overall we’ve made some wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. Sure we have our moments where we don’t always get along and yes we have our fair share of drama but in the end, I would do anything for these girls and I am fairly confident that that would be returned.
As I work on changing myself, I would like say that when it comes to friends, I want to do two things. First, I want to make sure that I am surrounded by the right people. I need to reevaluate my relationships and make sure that the people I am investing in are worth the investment. It would be nice to keep everyone you meet as a friend but sometimes it gets a little one sided. It goes back to my earlier post about trying to be everything to everyone. The truth is friendship is give and take so if you can’t get what you’re giving, maybe it’s time to be moving on.
My second goal is to try to be better at maintaining my friendships. I am not very good at staying in touch and I never have been. All those addresses I collected every year at the end of summer camp went in a drawer never to see the light of day again and I totally wrote keep in touch in the yearbooks from school but it was safe to say once that final bell rang in June, I would talk to you in September. Now since my college friends are spread out all over the place, I need to try a little harder to stay in touch or those friendships won’t be there one day. I am realistic that I will not be calling all my friends every day or probably every week but I want to make the effort to check in more often than I do in hope of making it a more regular occurrence.
And as for the friends I saw this past weekend, I can say without a shadow of doubt that each of them is in my life for a reason. There is a sorority quote that says, "Sisters by chance, friends by choice." I think that has a lot of truth to it. I was choosen by a group to be sisters with these people but I never imagined the kind of friendships that would have evolved. This weekend, I noticed that they each have something about them that I love and respect. Laura is the once timid girl who now holds nothing back. She’ll be goofy or speak her mind and she no longer worries what anybody thinks. Mary is a natural born leader who possesses an unyeilding sense of adventure which has allowed her to have incredible experiences. Missy is an extremely easy going person who brings her natural wit and charm to the group (plus lots of chips) along with some much needed sarcasm. Diana is probably one of the most outgoing people I have met in my life and she has the ability to make friends wherever she goes. Teresa is extremely caring and willing to be there no matter what (I know that I wouldn’t have gotten through half of what I have gone through without her) and as far as dates go, she’s a great one! Kate is courageous having moved her entire life this year to follow her heart and she is someone I know I will always be able to depend on no matter where she is. You can’t help but love Erin. Her energy is contagious and she is never afraid to be who she is, even if that is a girl who does the pencil sharpener or shopping cart. And finally Colleen is without a doubt that most driven, determined and motivated person I know. She is a proven self made woman and her thirst for success and greatness is unquenchable.
Sure each of these people have about 1,000 other things that I could rattle off about them and why they make excellent friends but I just picked a few things that I see in each them that I would like see more of in myself. I would suggest taking a look at the people in your life and finding exactly what it is about them that makes them great. So often we are quick to criticize, judge, or just throw our opinions out there about people but we are far less likely to be complimentary. I hope that all my friends are aware of how much they mean to me even if I don’t say it all the time. It definitely wouldn’t hurt for me to be a little more willing to praise them simply for being my friends.
"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget" -unknown
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