Reconnecting

One of the things I promised myself for 2011 was to be more active in it - not as in exercise type active, although that is one of my goals for the year, but as in making more active choices and not just letting life push me along until, hey presto another 365 days have passed and I feel like I blinked and missed them.

There's a lot more to it than this I know, but I'm really pleased that over the last month I've managed to find time for friends - new and old. Undoubtedly Cat has helped here since he's been a bit of the motivating factor for visits. But at the same time I like to think that I would have made the effort anyway - to celebrate, commiserate or just check out that everything is ok. The challenge now will be to keep it up and not let it slip.

I always like to find a photo to go with my blog posts. When I was trying to find one for this post I found myself drawn to images of bridges - things that help us connect with what can otherwise be separated from us, not always completely severed, sometimes just inconveniently so. Friendship is what keeps the connection going even through distance, time constraints and sometimes complications and disagreements. Friendships, like bridges, help us stay connected, help us overcome obstacles, but also like bridges they need a bit of maintenance every now and again. You can't just trust that they will always be there if you don't do some repair, a bit of TLC or even just checking every now and again.

Like the Forth Bridge, it's a neverending endeavour. Not a task, but an investment, and one that brings its own rewards. If it's a task, the chances are it's not a friendship that you should have. And if it doesn't reward you in some way, then you're best exiting it as quickly as possible.

I have said many times, I am lucky to be blessed by wonderful friends, who give me love and support, help me through the hard times and join me to celebrate the happy ones. I work hard at being lucky however, or at least I hope I do. I hope I'm a good friend who's worth the investment from others. I hope I repay the debt of friendship that I owe to others. And I hope that if I don't, my friends give me the opportunity to try again and work a bit harder at being a good friend to them.