It's kind of amazing how people grow apart. It's crazy looking at Facebook pictures from your best friend in elementary school and seeing how completely separate and opposite your lives have turned out. It's like having a connection with a stranger. You know their face (though it may have matured quite a bit) and you have memories of things they said and things you shared with them, and yet they're strangers. The same on the outside, but really a different person. So much of their lives have been spent away from you, so much has happened between then and now.
Looking at the lives (from a very outside perspective) of some of the people who I related to the best as a child or teenager, I've come to realize there is no way I would ever be friends with them now, had we just met. But for a short period of time, we meant a lot to eachother, had a lot in common, and planned on being friends forever. It's a sobering thought. Who are you friends with now who will seem like strangers to you 15 years down the road? Granted, I'm almost 22 now and consider myself, as well as my friends, adults. And I would like to think that I surround myself with mature people who I have an actual connection with. But then again, in fifth grade I probably thought I was pretty mature and capable of picking friends then, and look at us all now. There's no telling who will still be important to you tomorrow.
I think there are a million versions of each of us. Every decision we make or step we take transforms us a little at a time so that one day we realize that though we may not feel any different inside, we are actually completely different people from who we were x amount of decisions ago. It's weird, but I think it's true.
So it's okay that we don't stay friends with our pre-teen BFFs. Because in this version of our lives, we've outgrown those relationships. Even if it is confusing and sometimes difficult to think about. Every decision changes us and brings us to the place in our lives where we're supposed to be. If a relationship is meant to last it will. And if it doesn't, don't worry about it. The people who are meant to be in your life, will be. And the rest, though they may be absent from it now, will still have left an impact. Everything in our lives happens for a reason. Even friendships that don't last.
Looking at the lives (from a very outside perspective) of some of the people who I related to the best as a child or teenager, I've come to realize there is no way I would ever be friends with them now, had we just met. But for a short period of time, we meant a lot to eachother, had a lot in common, and planned on being friends forever. It's a sobering thought. Who are you friends with now who will seem like strangers to you 15 years down the road? Granted, I'm almost 22 now and consider myself, as well as my friends, adults. And I would like to think that I surround myself with mature people who I have an actual connection with. But then again, in fifth grade I probably thought I was pretty mature and capable of picking friends then, and look at us all now. There's no telling who will still be important to you tomorrow.
I think there are a million versions of each of us. Every decision we make or step we take transforms us a little at a time so that one day we realize that though we may not feel any different inside, we are actually completely different people from who we were x amount of decisions ago. It's weird, but I think it's true.
So it's okay that we don't stay friends with our pre-teen BFFs. Because in this version of our lives, we've outgrown those relationships. Even if it is confusing and sometimes difficult to think about. Every decision changes us and brings us to the place in our lives where we're supposed to be. If a relationship is meant to last it will. And if it doesn't, don't worry about it. The people who are meant to be in your life, will be. And the rest, though they may be absent from it now, will still have left an impact. Everything in our lives happens for a reason. Even friendships that don't last.
I agree!! I think about this all the time! I have made many wonderful friends in my lifetime, most of them are but a memory.... There is a saying that goes something like, "People are put into our lives for a reason, or a season!" I truly believe it!
ReplyDeleteWell said!
As usual very well thought out and one to make you think.
ReplyDeleteI miss you.
By the way I was trying to comment yesterday and was unable for some reason. Also, I can see your Visitor traffic. I am the one in NIgeria..LOL
Luv you