Family, Friendship, and Falling Out with People

Are Important…and apart of life…

I remember once during a visit home during my college years, speaking to my mother about my difficulties of trust those who I perceived as and called friends. She replied (probably out of exhaustion of hearing me complain so much) with a generational critique, “Your generation uses the term friend to loosely!” Until then I never really thought about it but after that encounter I definitely started to take the coveted term much more seriously.

Despite Gen Y being so “microwave” and successively extracting all interpersonal skills out of the action of socializing, I think true friends are still around and true friendship can occur. No friends are not the people that share the most mutual “friends” with you on facebook, but friends are those that talk to, learn with, argue with, critique, get critiqued by and grow with. I think a major problem that I have attempted to correct, is trying to make stretch friendships/relationships that were only meant for a season into a lifetime.

This past weekend I got to hang out with my brother in Minnesota. When we hangout it’s like we never had any time apart. We just start right back where we left off. On Saturday we had a conversation about why do we develop friendships/relationships if they are only meant to last for a short period of time. What are they worth? Why should we even go through them if they are not going to last forever? Well life has taught me that even though I have argued and burned bridges with individuals over quarrels, these events (the good and bad) and people (the good and the bad) have all shaped me to become the person I am today.

And I refuse (now after growing up a little) to devalue those past friendships and relationships. And I would like to thank all those people who have been in my story. It’s sad that some people were only in a chapter or two but I know all things happen for a reason. I really appreciate you all—my family, my best friend, “the Team,” my real friends, girlfriends, haters, those who wished the best for me, those that wished the worst for me after something bad that I did.

I thank you each for your effect in my life, no matter how big or small.

(I definitely was not planning to go this direction in this post…but I did)…