I just finished reading a book that made me realize the power of friendship. I know that sounds lame and almost childish but it's true. Like "The Fox and The Hound" and "Stand by Me" some things just make you consider your life in general and where friends fit in.
Reading this book made me realize how much I've lost touch with so many friends. We live in a strange world where it's so easy to let time pass you by. We make do with a quick text or email to catch up instead of finding the time to make a call. Even worse we learn things about friends by reading their Facebook status and offer our friendly advise or congratulations or condolences by commenting on the status. We write happy birthday on their wall rather then sending them a nice birthday card.
For some of us the really important things stay hidden. We keep them within us because we know that only weird people post their whole lives on Facebook for the whole world to see. There are some things that shouldn't be shared with the whole world. Those things should be shared with real friends.
But we fail to share the real things in this technological age. We often go it alone and just hope we can survive on our own. Or you don't want to trouble others with our issues. We know they have their own issues that they keep to themselves. And instead of making that call to catch up with an old friend we simply comment on their wall.
I know this doesn't happen to all friends. I know some people take the time to make that call regularly. Take the time to hear the other person's voice or see their face. It makes me happy that those people exist in this crazy world.
This post is more about me. I haven't done those things. I'd rather keep my problems to myself. Not that there is anything wrong but when there is I've always been good at figuring it out on my own for the most part. But it would still be nice to really catch up with old friends.
Technology has made it easy to drop the quick note and then just wait for the other person to reply. And if they take a while to reply your life just goes on. There was one passage from the book that really got me.
"You get older and you learn there is one sentence, just four words long, and if you say it to yourself it offers more comfort then almost any other. It goes like this ... Ready?
Ready
At least I tried"
I may not be able to force friends to stay in contact but I can try. I can try to be a better friend. I can try to be a better son and a better brother.
It may not make a difference but I can look in the mirror and know I made the effort.
At least I Tried.
I am going to be reading this book soon enough. I understand why you feel the way you do. Especially when your friends live far away, it's easy to justify not making contact on a regular basis. There are so many excuses we all use on a regular basis. I have been trying my very best to make a better effort in keeping in contact with my friends as much as possible. Over the last year I've embraces that concept of "Trying". About 1 year ago I realized I wasn't making an effort at all and I was justifying it cause I was a new parent and friends just come second. But that's not right, friends, true friends are family and should be treated as such. For the record, I've never felt that you've neglected our friendship. And I'm glad that we are using our blogs to keep in contact and to connect with each other again. Our TV talks are greatly missed!
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