The Cycle of Friendship

Hey Guys, It's Carly and I'm blogging myself this week. Once again I find myself trying to find something to say when the word friendship crossed my mind. Friends are important to me. I love laughing and living life with those I am close to. This made me reflect on the friends I have had through the years and how those friendships could be categorized in lifetime, season, Church, and cycle.

A lifetime friend is someone you connect with on many levels. Through those common interests the friendship grows until you become almost like siblings. Many of my lifetime friends are extended family to me. I would do anything for them and the same goes with them in turn.

A seasonal friend is someone you connect with instantly. The friendship grows fast and burn bright until it has nowhere else to go. I believe seasonal friends come into our lives to help with something specific you are dealing with. When the situation has passed, the friendship fades.

A Church friend is somebody you share your religion and spiritual beliefs with. Many of these friends can become lifetime or seasonal friends too. The common bond of faith keeps you together 

A cycle friend or recycle if you will, is a friend that keeps repeatedly coming back into your life. I would say this could be kids you went to school or college with, co-workers, or people who belonged to a same club as you.

Now that you get where I am coming from, I want to share a little bit about all four of these friendships in my personal life. I have several lifetime friends. These are people I have known since I was a little girl. They know almost everything there is to know about me and love me anyway. Truthfully, I am closer to some of these friends then some of my blood relatives. I know in a pinch that this core group of people will have my back no matter what the situation. Time and distance do not make a difference with a lifetime friend. Most of the time, you can pick up exactly where you left off before life separated you for awhile.

I have had a few seasonal friends during key points in my life. For example, getting married. It's a major milestone in your life. When my ex hubby and I got married, a lot of our friends were too. All of us brides discussed our dresses, flowers, attendants, and color schemes. The thing is, when the weddings were over, the friendships began to fade. You discover there is not enough common ground for the friendship to build on. Sadly, you drift apart. You are still nice to each other when you see each other in public and you are probably friends with them on Facebook, but as for important life interaction, it's just not there.

Church friends is pretty self-explanatory. I've been attending my Church since the cradle except for a brief period during college and when I was married. Growing up in the Church, everyone gets to know you. They get both the good and the bad. I hit it lucky with my Bible study group. We have been together for twenty years and these people get me. Most people think that Church is full of hypocrites... whatever! I look at it as I'm in the right place to repent and try again to be better. What I like about my friends in Bible study is they are genuine. We are not perfect. We are married, divorced, widowed, and single. Some have kids, some have grandkids, and others don't have any yet. We come from all walks of life, but we all love one another regardless of the background. I'm very lucky to have these people in my life. They make me strive to be a better person.

Finally we come to cycle friends. I like to think of these as recycle or do-overs. Sometimes these are friendships that fell into the seasonal category originally only to come back around years later. Whenever this has happened with me, the friendship will grow stronger than it was before. For example: friends and acquaintances from school or work. How many times have you been "best friends" with somebody from college or work? We've all been there. At the time, they are close to you but then you either graduate or leave the company. What happens then? Most of the time, the friendship fades. It comes to find out the only thing holding you together was the job or class. Years later, you find yourself on a reunion committee or at another job and there is so and so from school or work. You start to talk and the friendship renews. It grows stronger and sometimes you have changed from the person you used to be. The friendship may last longer as a result.

I count myself as very lucky to have had some really good friends over the years. I value friendship and all that those people bring to my life. They help mold me into who I am. They make me stronger. They make me better. They support and encourage. They lift you up when you are down. That is what friendship is all about. 

Until next time...Carly