Friends near and far

“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.” ~Schewitzer

I realized the other day how happy I am with the people in my life. I don’t mean just the people I see every day, but I mean the people that are a part of my life for the long haul. These are people that always leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated after talking to them.

I realized this a few weeks back when one of my students was talking about how she feels like she can’t find anyone to fully trust to be her best friend. While this made me sad, I thought back to myself in 9th grade. I sure didn’t have that figured out yet either!! However, as I look at my life now, I feel SO overwhelmingly blessed that I have so many friends all around the states and even a few in different countries! I am still friends with a TON of people from high school, which seems rare these days. On top of that, I have all of my Gamma Phi Beta sisters and all of the Pi Kappa Phi guys. I have my friends from Salem high school, along with my friends from Hyperfit. I mean….one of the reasons I loved my wedding so much (besides that I married Jared haha) was because many of these people were all in the same place at the same time. Basically, this was a dream come true to have people from “all walks of life” celebrating with me on my special day. And now that I have moved to LA, I have my VCF friends and my friends at Campbell Hall.

I am not listing all of these groups of friends to prove I am popular…. Hahahah…. But rather I am doing it because I realized that I have created this world for myself that I love. And, sometimes when I really miss people, I have to remind myself how lucky I truly am. I grow through conversations with others. Whether those conversations are helping me with my split jerk, discussing a new lesson plan, helping me make a decision, or just discussing life in general; they are bringing a new perspective that leaves me feeling whole again because I have opened my mind to new possibilities. I encouraged my students by telling them that it takes a little bit of time to find those you can trust and those that make you better….but when you do, don’t lose them! I think this is a big reason that I love being a teacher. I learn just as much from my students as they learn from me. And Crossfit? Well, jeez…it is all about the inner struggle with yourself every day. We couldn’t survive without coaches, friends, and family at the gym.

Now……...how can I get all of my Michigan friends and LA friends together at one big party? I think my heart would explode.

Cheers to true friendship both near and far.