Reaching Out

I took advantage of a quiet morning yesterday, to send off an email to a close group of friends that I used to work with.

I wrote, rewrote, edited, added and deleted to those words many times before I finally hit the 'Send' button on that email. But the moment that I did ... I felt at one with the world.

Each of those friends is unique. I interact with each of them differently. The frequency and 'who contacts whom' varies from person to person; circumstance to circumstance. Each of these friends has a varying amount of commitments and time-to-call-their-own, so it seems that we have fallen into a pattern of 'how we keep in touch' based on how our lives work.

There are a few that moved out of our community many years ago. Contact with them is sporadic and most incredibly special when it does take place. They have moved on and out of our lives here ... but will always remain close in our thoughts. There are friends that, no matter where life takes them or how many years it has been between visits, that are friends of the heart. The moment you sit down and start talking, it is as if no time has passed. We have that kind of friendship.

We are all in different stages of our lives. I think that it is safe to say that each of us are very committed to our families ... the biggest difference is the demands that happen to be placed on each of us at a given time.

There is a quiet understanding that each of us has a different amount to give and take, at different points in our friendship. We have known each other over the course of the past 21 years and a lot has changed throughout that time.

There are times when one person 'takes the lead' and other times when someone else steps up. There is the feeling that someone has your back. You can draw on the energy of the group, when your own energy is low. There is a yin and a yang that is unconscious. It is simply 'there'. And it works.

We get together in small groups when we can, one-on-one at others. Our visits have ranged from regular contact ... to an 'almost loss of contact' ... to a rebuilding stage ... which has refortified what is good and special about this friendship.

This group of friends has seen me through the good, the bad and the ugly. They have cheered me on, lifted me up, believed in me and created a safe haven for 'me to be me'. I have become more courageous in living my life, because of what I have received from this circle of friendship.

Yesterday ... I reached out. I hoped that I made a small difference in one person's day. In doing so, it made my own day just a little bit more special.

Thoughts lead on to purposes;

purposes go forth in action;

actions form habits;

habits decide character;

and character fixes our destiny.

~Tryon Edwards