Another Christmas come and gone and I came away with a grill, slippers and Nintendo DS. I was not disapointed. Alternately my gifts weren't as great considering some were given in spite....for instance i gave my brother in law 2 recycle bins because I had ran over his previous ones with my car and smashed them to pieces. Another....I gave my sister Aqua Globes....She saw them on the shopping channel and while I was awed by their pure ingenious quality- she called them tacky and ugly and said she wouldn't be caught dead with them in her plants. Needless to say she now has one sitting in her plant in the kitchen. I have reined victorious.
Ok maybe not quite. On my way to Christmas eve at the grandparents I managed to hit a pool of water that was concealed by the heavy rain and fog. I hydroplaned and spun in maaannnyy circles while trying to avoid hitting the other cars, going off the road and keeping my car on at least two tires. I stalled it in the middle of the 115 and while the panic set in and I stared at the oncomming traffic, I managed a single task. I called my dad.
He was not pleased. I had left my car stalled in the middle of the 3 lane highway while I shook and cried into the phone. People were yelling at me to move my car, but in my stunned shock (I have never once been in any car accident apart from backing into a rock....and a garbage bin.....and two recycling bins) it never occurred to my to turn my car off and back on. Once that was all said and done I set back out on a shaky drive to Granny's house. makeup and night ruined, lets just say I wasn't in much of a mood for making merry.
The good thing that came out of my drive home was that I got have the reunion with my best friends from highschool and play catchup. It ran overtime because we were all so enthralled with the new baby and flashing diamond rings and relationships that looked promising. All in all, the whole experience made me realize that I have been a bad friend. Being a bad friend is so much easier then being a good one that it is often the road that most people take. it is so much easier to wait for them to call YOU and make an effort to see YOU and update YOU and for them to take the torch for keeping in contact. Word of advice....if someone else is always holding the torch, it will almost always be thrown down at some point when their arm becomes tired and they get frustrated with your lack of effort.
During my early years of university, and even just prior to university I was entirely too self involved. I wasn't trying to stay in contact with my friends because i expected them to try and stay in contact with me, like I was invaluable. NO ONE is invaluable. I was too caught up in partying and boys and being good looking (or trying) and meeting new people....that I left my trusty old friends behind. I have said this before that there is a song called sunscreen that really left an impression on me and the line from it is "Hold on to the people you knew when you were young. The older you get, the more you will need them to remember who you were". When you finally learn this lesson it is usually too late. You feel alone and your cell phone contact list is wearing thin and you can't think of anybody to call to come over and just watch a stupid movie with you....the only people you can think of would only accompany you to a bar and only if they were in the area and going there anyway. Being a bad friend in a choice. A lazy choice.
Don't let people leave you behind or else you'll be left with a pile of torches nobody will be willing to hold.
Ok maybe not quite. On my way to Christmas eve at the grandparents I managed to hit a pool of water that was concealed by the heavy rain and fog. I hydroplaned and spun in maaannnyy circles while trying to avoid hitting the other cars, going off the road and keeping my car on at least two tires. I stalled it in the middle of the 115 and while the panic set in and I stared at the oncomming traffic, I managed a single task. I called my dad.
He was not pleased. I had left my car stalled in the middle of the 3 lane highway while I shook and cried into the phone. People were yelling at me to move my car, but in my stunned shock (I have never once been in any car accident apart from backing into a rock....and a garbage bin.....and two recycling bins) it never occurred to my to turn my car off and back on. Once that was all said and done I set back out on a shaky drive to Granny's house. makeup and night ruined, lets just say I wasn't in much of a mood for making merry.
The good thing that came out of my drive home was that I got have the reunion with my best friends from highschool and play catchup. It ran overtime because we were all so enthralled with the new baby and flashing diamond rings and relationships that looked promising. All in all, the whole experience made me realize that I have been a bad friend. Being a bad friend is so much easier then being a good one that it is often the road that most people take. it is so much easier to wait for them to call YOU and make an effort to see YOU and update YOU and for them to take the torch for keeping in contact. Word of advice....if someone else is always holding the torch, it will almost always be thrown down at some point when their arm becomes tired and they get frustrated with your lack of effort.
During my early years of university, and even just prior to university I was entirely too self involved. I wasn't trying to stay in contact with my friends because i expected them to try and stay in contact with me, like I was invaluable. NO ONE is invaluable. I was too caught up in partying and boys and being good looking (or trying) and meeting new people....that I left my trusty old friends behind. I have said this before that there is a song called sunscreen that really left an impression on me and the line from it is "Hold on to the people you knew when you were young. The older you get, the more you will need them to remember who you were". When you finally learn this lesson it is usually too late. You feel alone and your cell phone contact list is wearing thin and you can't think of anybody to call to come over and just watch a stupid movie with you....the only people you can think of would only accompany you to a bar and only if they were in the area and going there anyway. Being a bad friend in a choice. A lazy choice.
Don't let people leave you behind or else you'll be left with a pile of torches nobody will be willing to hold.
1 comment:
You're not a bad friend! We all are guilty of getting caught up in life and failing to keep in touch with those that once were everything to us. It's a fact of life, sadly. Just promise yourself from now on that you'll make an attempt at seeing us at our yearly Blackhoney catch up, and if we see each other in between, then we'll call it a bonus. And if you can't make it, well at least you tried, right?
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