In the Flow with Healing Waters

I’ve always been a believer that we need friends in our lives. Some people have a minimal amount of friends and others have many. It doesn’t really matter how many friends you have, as long as you’re happy with the friends that you have. 

I have a friend that I’ve known since kindergarten! We’ve had ups, downs, gone through major life changes, shared tears and had lots of laughter. We’ve even had long stretches of time where we didn’t talk, but when we saw each other again, it was like time never passed. We value our friendship and always talk things through during the rough spots, but it wasn’t always like that. We had to learn to be vulnerable, trust each other, and communicate the difficult things. In many ways, these deep friendships have some similarities to a marriage. If you really want them to work, you have to work at them. 

Have you ever had a friend that had to have everything his or her way? Did you feel like they weren’t understanding and that you couldn’t do anything right? If you have friends like that in your life, maybe it’s time to evaluate if that person is bringing you joy or if it’s too much effort to remain friends. If you feel like the relationship is one sided, too much work and unfulfilling, it’s time to decide if that friendship is worth it to you.  

In a recent conversation with one of my kids, we were talking about friends. He recently went on a 4 day canoe trip with 7 friends. During the trip, the place where they were going to set up camp was already taken, so they continued down the river to the next spot, which was also taken. He said they were tired and hungry and he could feel the frustration mounting as they continued to look for another place to camp. When they finally found a spot, they communicated clearly, before they got out of their canoes, on what needed to be done to set up camp and get dinner ready. Everyone did their part and everything was done quickly and efficiently. It was mentioned later on how appreciative they were that they communicated clearly to get the job done vs not having any organization and getting angry with each other. My son said that the trip was one of the best experiences of his life because of the people he was with. He talked about the importance of friends and how they would sit around the campfire at night and talk, creating deeper connections and lasting memories. 

For me, each friend provides different things for me. All of us don’t align with the same political or religious belief system, core values or sense of humor, but it doesn’t matter. It’s good that we all aren’t the same! You can learn a lot from others if you listen and are curious about them. Some friends will be with you for a lifetime, and some for a season.

Friends in the Flow,

Deb