Direction

"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn, and we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them.  And we help them in return..."

Well, I certainly hope that the last part is true, especially because I feel like I've been helped a lot.  Tonight, I've had occasion to pause and think a little about the people I know.  The people that I feel close to are absolutely incredible.

A wise friend once taught me that we are the average of our 5 closest friends.  Well, I hope to aspire to such a standard.  For one thing, my best friend is caring.  Just today, I did him a favor, and it made me laugh thinking that out of favors and things we owe each other, I owe him a few thousand pounds of chocolate, and he owes me several dozen crates of Easy Mac, so we don't even care any more.  One time, our families had a big joke between us because someone owed the other a pie, and so we were giving each other pies for a few weeks.

Tonight, I was with 6 other incredible people, and by the end of the night (after we got kicked out of Dairy Queen because we were talking too long and they wanted to close), we were reminiscing of our many escapades throughout elementary school, junior high and high school.  I was laughing at things that I hadn't thought about in quite a while, from "Fish on the clicky, sir!" to "Did somebody say cheesecake?" to "2-9-6-2-3-9-9", just to name a few.  Looking back, we sure have had some great experiences.

But in the course of our conversation, we also briefly discussed where others have gone with their lives.  Thinking back to some that I was friends with in 1st grade or so, I found out tonight that one is in prison, and another has been in and out of rehab for a while.  I think of the direction my life would have taken if things hadn't happened the way that they did, and I lost interest in spending time with those friends.  I've discussed the above quote and related ideas with some close friends, and the consensus seems to be that we all feel gratitude that we have been led to our friends.  I certainly feel that way.  So although the list of people that I've thought about while writing this post is way too long, and amidst apologies for the many inside jokes and stories I've included here, I just want to say thanks for setting the direction of my life and making me who I am.