Connect or Move On

I'm a relator by nature. I cannot go a day without feeling connected to other people. Since graduation, my closest friends and I have gone in very different directions. Literally, we are spread from China to South Korea and Tennessee to Hawaii. Once just a phone call or short walk away, we are now separated by countless miles of land and sea, time zones, international calling rates, etc. Initially it was very difficult for me to grapple with the stress of being so far from my friends. After some quiet reflection however, I came to the decision that it's all on me. If I want someone to be in my life, then I have to make every effort to be in their's. Life gets busy and complicated, people move on to do different things, but that's not necessarily an excuse to lose touch.

I think it is a beautiful thing when friends can go weeks, months, years even, without talking, and suddenly reunite on the same note they left off. However, there is something to be said about friends that remain in constant contact despite distance, time, and circumstances. That's what I want.

In part, it's probably my fear of losing relationships that keeps me from being content with not talking to friends for extended periods of time. I can still remember the regret I felt as a seven year old when I moved to a new state with my family, left my best friend behind, and realized that we would probably never talk again (mostly because I had an irrational fear of telephones as a child).

I think you should make every effort to keep the people you care about in your lives. Even still, I believe you have to move on when efforts become one sided. A quote I read recently definitely woke me up to this fact. It said, "Stop wanting someone who doesn't want you! What a waste of time and energy! God has a plan for your life and you're distracted. Be free!" So that's what I'll try to live by. God has a plan for my life. People come and go. There is something to learn from everyone. In the end, we make time for the things and people that matter most to us. That's just how it goes.