Value of Friendship
With every day that passes, I realize more and more what is truly important in my life. Maybe it’s partly because I know without the grace of God, I may not even be here today. We spend so much time and energy on just doing the things that we have to do, or on getting to that next step in our lives where we feel we would be better off. But life is more than our to do list, and it is so much more than achieving our next goal. Let’s make the time to enjoy what we have and share our lives with others. The truth is, the best things in life are free! That’s why I value all the relationships I have with friends and family; friendship is truly a gift to appreciate to the fullest. It doesn’t matter what we do together, it’s just the togetherness that makes it fun and adds fulfillment to my life.
Last week I had planned to travel to Minnesota to accompany my husband on his business trip. I was especially looking forward to this time away to decompress after marrying our son off to the young lady of his dreams. I was going to use the time to emotionally shift gears as I suddenly find myself an empty nester, with two married sons. I had been looking forward to this for a couple months, so when we weren’t able to make it happen this time I was extremely disappointed. Not only was I adjusting to empty nest, now I was going to have an empty house all week long. I had no idea how that was going to feel.
What I had dreaded, turned out to be an amazing experience. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but now I’m even happy that I stayed home. It was freeing! I was just Tami, and I remembered that I’m good company. I reached out to friends, met them for coffee, for lunch, to go walking, for a movie, and had them over to the house. I had no other distractions this week to divert my energy away from cultivating one of life’s most precious gifts. When we are feeling alone, we must take initiative and reach out to someone. I find that the only way to develop the type of relationships we desire is to take the first step, make a phone call, invite someone to do something. The long term investment in someone is worth the short term discomfort in reaching out to a stranger. Having quality relationships enrich my life, gives me a sense of belonging and allows me to share who I am with others. There is something that happens in the human heart when others really know and value who you are.