When Life Gets in the Way

This week has been a bit of a challenge for me. As I mentioned in The Big Switch, I am leaving the comfort of a full time public job to come home and be with my 2 kids to work from home. It is a decision that I can honestly say I am at full peace with, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a hard decision. It was this week, as I was struggling through the normal daily challenges with a workplace that is undergoing  major changes, a mind that goes ninety to nothing, a doctor’s appointment that stresses me out {although I try my very best to hide it}, and all of the other daily activities that every mother /wife/woman goes through, that I began to sincerely miss one of my dearest friends. She is that friend that no matter WHAT is going on, I can call her and talk to her…and it will be as though no time has passed. She has seen my at my best and has definitely seen me at my worse. She has sat with me and loved me through the hardest times of my life, and she has rejoiced with me during the happiest times, as though it was happening to herself. She has straightened me out when I needed it, and she has challenged me to be better just by being around her. She is one of a kind, and although I have some awesome friends in my life, I don’t think it is possible to ever find another as good as her. She lives 3.5 hours away from me now, and I never get to see her. I realize that isn’t a distance that is so far that I couldn’t see her from time to time, but so many times life just gets in the way. We are from the same hometown, yet we both moved from there, and when we do go home- we are so busy seeing family that there is no time for each other. We always say that we will get together soon, but it never seems to happen. We both stay so busy with our children and our daily lives that time just slips away.

The funny thing is, we are so different in our personalities. She is super outgoing and has never met a stranger. To know her is to love her. I am an introvert, and when you get to know me, you have a hard time imagining that to be true…but trust me, I AM. I am super uncomfortable around large groups of people, and I tend to always gravitate towards people that I know so that I feel comfort. That is not her. She can talk to anybody. If I do that and it looks like it is easy, trust me, my insides are going nuts with nerves. It has always been funny to me how we were always such good friends. It started when we were 7 years old at our babysitters house. She always told us that we would be the best team, and we were. I barely even remember an argument after all of these years. But, I have allowed my life to get in the way of me taking the time to nurture that friendship the way I should. I realize it happens to a lot of people, but to stop and think about it, it shouldn’t. We all need those people in our lives that are our “people”. They get us. Why do we allow our lives to get in the way of that? How hard is it to pick up the phone and make a 5 minute phone call? Or even to just send a text? We make time to scroll aimlessly through Facebook or Instagram, but the people that matter the most in our lives just fall by the wayside because “life is too busy”. When you have a friendship that has stood the test of time, cherish that. Those are few and far between, and they need to be nurtured and cared for. They need time devoted to them. So many of these other things can wait, but the people in our lives that matter the most should never have to.

I know one thing, friendships are one of life’s most important relationships. Don’t take them for granted. Pick up the phone and make that phone call {even if there is a 2 year old yelling Mommy during the ENTIRE conversation, no matter how long or short it may be!}, send a text, WRITE A LETTER {gasp! You mean people still do that?!}… Do something. Take back what life has gotten in the way of, and remember what is most important. I know I am going to.

Last Updated on November 1, 2015