A friend of mine recently posted a blog about friendship. I posted a comment in response that I thought worthy to post on my blog. I might even expand on it later. But for now here are my words:
"Some observations from your slightly-older and significantly-creepier friend...
I think it is natural for your 'true friend' pool to dwindle as you get older. I like to call the ages of 21-25 "Post 21". These are the years that you still feel and act like a young buck. You still talk to your high school friends. Your jobs suck, you party hard, and you keep a larger pool of pals. A "Pal Pool", if you will.
Then you hit your mid/late-20's. This is called the "Now you really look like your parents" phase. At this point in their lives, many people begin taking life too seriously. They gradually stop talking to their less-serious friends, and selfishly select new friends that fit their life goals. I understand the "surrounding yourself with people that make you better" theory, but not at the expense of people you have history with. For what is the point of making and having great memories with people, only to let them go? I choose history as the starting point for keeping friends. You can't let people go that you share significant life memories with. What a waste of your life!
[12/14 - You would have a memory involving old friends, yet the people involved in that memory have dissolved from your life. But what good is the memory if the real people are gone? Of course, this doesn't apply to death. Memories are everything if there is no more person. A person is truly dead to the earthly world if no memory or record of them exists.]
An important measure of friendship is the ability to pick up where you left off, regardless of the passage of time. Friendship should be a life-long commitment. It's not so much the quantity of contact, but quality and persistence. So if a few years go by without talking to someone, it is on both parties to pick up the phone and say hello. Having friends in your life isn't about moving on and always making new friends. Those aren't friends. They are temporary acquaintances. A friend is someone you cross paths with, realize the 'destiny' involved and never take for granted, and hold on to for life. If the good Lord put that person in your life, it is of the utmost that you embrace it.
Plus, I believe Thanksgiving and Christmas [have become] commercial scams. People also make them out to be special days when you get off your ass and actually talk to friends and family. The purposes of these holidays should be a year-round state of mind..."
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