Dear Journal,
I’m feeling optimistic today, and not just because I got my teaching schedule for the spring, but that’s a great reason to feel good. It’s exciting to see a continuation of what I’ve been working hard for the past few months. But I’m feeling optimistic because there are so many other things ahead that I can look forward to as well.
I got to see my best friend yesterday, and the times I see her are few and far between, but when we see each other it all clicks back into place. She is from a completely different background than I am, and her life has taken so many different turns from mine, but somehow we have always connected. She knows what to say when I talk to her, and I feel useful in return.
There’s just something about good friends, despite everything else that’s going on, being there for you whenever you need them. I know that’s what I’m getting used to now since we’ve been friends, and that makes me optimistic as well. See, I’ve been burned by so-called friends before, the ones who disappeared when things weren’t so perfect in my life or in their lives. And it took me ages to get over it each and every time they fell by the wayside, but that hasn’t stopped me from seeking out new friends. It just makes the process a little harder.
My wife has had the same friends to confide in over a long period of time, and for a while I used to be jealous of her, of that easy way they communicate. Because friends fill a critical role in our lives. They’re important, and I missed having that connection with people I called friends. That’s not to say that somewhere down deep I don’t harbor concerns that I’ll lose my best friend, but I have to feel optimistic that despite the odds she has still been there for me, so I have to believe that she will be there for me. Otherwise, why cultivate the relationship? But I’m not jealous of my wife and her friendships anymore. I appreciate that she has them to lean on, and to confide in.
And I’m feeling blessed right now.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 