December 18, 2008
-
The Cycle of Friendship
The Cycle of Friendship
"There is no such thing as a stranger, only a friend you haven't met."
- Author Unknown -
When we're born into this world, we know no one but our family. Somewhere along the path of life, we run into many strangers who soon become our friends. Many walk through but only a select few manage to leave footprints. Strangers become acquaintances, and acquaintances become friends. Unfortunately, friends can also become strangers. One day you're as close as close can be. Then a few days pass by without talking to each other. Soon a few weeks fly by and before you know it, the friendship is no longer what it used to be. As long as the sun will rise and set, so will your friendships. As strangers become friends, friends become strangers.
Looking back at all the friends that I've made throughout my life, and friends that have become strangers, I realize that I need to break the cycle. I need to break the part where a friend becomes a stranger. I choose my friends very carefully and anyone who was, is, and will be my friend is someone worth keeping. As of this moment, I've decided on a resolution that I plan to keep for the rest of my life: to keep in touch with all my friends, old and new. It only takes a simple phone call or a instant message to rekindle an old friendship. Do it for the good old times and the future ones to come.
Comments (37)
I agree. I've lost too many friends in the process of making new ones. You just get so caught up into getting to know a person.
I should make that my resolution as well.
I hope you keep it!
Nice... I need to do the same.
Nice reminder especially during this time of the year/
once a friend, never an acquaintance!
I wish I had friends... Or acquaintances.
nice thought.
I JUST LEFT A FOOTPRINT!
the beatles said that.
Hmm... i should definately bring back some of those friends... but there's so many
and it's even harder to 'coz i moved awayy... sigh!! But good post!!
yeah im presently working on contacting old friends whom i've not met for a while. i'm beginning to be wary of picking friends now. :/
I agree that friends should be chosen carefully, but sometimes you just can't help growing apart. Lifestyles change, goals change, and life may lead you to different paths. It's unfortunate...
I think sometimes people just come in and out of our lives as we need them or they need us, with no conscious effort at all. I have had two really strange experiences whereby I fell out with two close friends, only to reaffirm our friendship later. I retrospect, I saw that the times they were out of my life, there were things going on in my life that being friends with them would have complicated, or somehow made more difficult. So while it's good to keep friends longterm, I also think there's some degree of "meant-to-be" cyclical changes in interpersonal relationships. So don't feel too bad.
speaking truth. i hear ya.
That would make a really good new years resolution
Sadly, no matter how hard we try, sometimes friends do become strangers. We can't help it if friends decide to fall out of touch and don't reciprocate back. I always say that if it's meant to be, it will be. We can only do our best but the rest is out of our hands.
Nice post about friendship! You must be well-loved by your friends!
Ebb and flow. There isn't a constant link but just checking up every so often helps.
=T
It's so much work... but i guess that is what Facebook networks are for - stalking and keepnig in touch.
= ]
Effective for you?
sigh.. but it's so much work. especially if it's only you making the effort.
I need to do this too. I let so many good friends drift away. It's really no good.
I wish all strangers were friends . LOL
that's the reason some people have several hundreds of friends on facebook!
i love this post.
i think a circle is too simple though. needs to be more of a flow chart with branches to capture more patterns.
for instance there are people that you lose touch with and that alone is not enough to make them a stranger. they are people that because of distance or time constraints that you dont see often but when you do see them there's great affection immediately.
What if they want it to be stranger again, do you fight for them or let them go?
@whonose -
i would let them go.
i mean.. what's the point in staying in touch with someone who clearly doesn't want to stay in touch with you? i would invest that time and energy trying to stay in touch with friends who do want to keep in touch.
but.. i think friends will always be friends
the ones who become strangers weren't really friends, imo
No rec & no stars...but are you still my friend?
I love this post.
Make new friends but always remember the old ones.
I try keep my old friends. Sometimes the friend doesn't put effort into the friendship and I just let it slide.
I like this quote "I want to be your favourite hello and your hardest goodbye".
becca and wuwu friends forever...since el monte condo days!
But when you've got like 500 friends.. ugh.
Eh... there are some "friends" that I'd like to keep as "strangers".
>>>>>friendship never ends at an instant..as long as the horizon has different colors, friendships too have... friendship change when one finds another one, and the whole thing is wrecked, but still friendship is hard to break... =)
That's a REALLY good resolution. But what about a friend who does something REALLY bad to you? Sometimes I think it's good to just be strangers again.
Hm.. I agree for the most part. But, sometimes people go down different paths and that's just how things end up. You lose those commonalities and while you may want to catch up with them after not talking to them for months if not years, would they?
"There is no such thing as a stranger, only a friend you haven't met."
i heard of this from a beer ad maybe its calsberg.
definately sound advice... i have always tried to do that...
Yeah, I know what you feel. I have kept in touch however with the people I fall into and fall out of because I feel their presence no matter what, but I should try to keep in touch with those who I don't really care for and probably never cared for me because you never know!
So, I tried
Comments are closed.