Right now outside it is blooming, it is springtime, and I love experiencing changing seasons and seeing parallels in our friendships. For me, spring invites us to explore similarities between this season and friendships
One of the biggest lessons, and honestly biggest blessings, that I ever learned was that friends are a lot like a garden. In a garden we have evergreens. Evergreens are there all the time. They are stable and present in every season. Then we have our annuals. We are all getting our annuals for the springtime. They are blooming, hot, exciting, and fiery. Annuals are here for the season and make a bold appearance. Next, we have our perennials. They bloom and are beautiful, and then they go away and come back. You usually only plant a perennial once, but it is there forever in some capacity…sometimes dormant in the ground and other times in full bloom. Then we have our wildflowers and weeds…some weeds need to be pulled. But also, some weeds end up being beautiful flowers! All of these types of flowering friendships are what make up life
Many of us have this image and idea that if we are a friend or have a friend that it should be forever, and while that may be awesome, I find the situation to be very rare. Sometimes friends are there to show us the potential of what we want or maybe to broaden our scope and enlarge the way our brain thinks, but they aren’t necessarily meant to be an evergreen, forever friend. I know that I’ve definitely fallen massively in love with someone new…that exciting annual. But then they pitter out and fade away and couldn’t actually hold the excitement. I’ve also had friends with a rooted friendship that blooms in a season. We may go years without speaking but then pick up right where we left off…those are perennials
When meeting new people, know that anyone can fake anything for about 6 months. After those 6 months is when we can really look at who they are and make the decision of if we really like this person and want to keep them or decide to let them go. In 6 months we can generally witness enough to know if their words and actions align and if our values align with theirs in a way that can create a sustainable friendship
When we view friendships in seasons, and when we understand that some are meant to come and go, we can maintain our integrity and also lighten the load on our hearts as some drift away. It is our job to recognize the blessing of their presence and the lessons we are to learn from and through them. Some people teach us incredible truths to hold on to, and some people teach us ways we never, ever want to replicate. Each friend is a lesson, which means we are moving forward and growing, and that is a sign of a flourishing garden.
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