Reaching Out to Friends

Friends come and go but those who stick around are worth keeping. How many friends do you have who are like treasures for you? Said friends are the ones that need to be polished so that their glitters will last a lifetime. What should we do with these treasured friends? We have to be thankful to God for giving us these individuals who stick with us through thick and thin. They are like a seed that needs water for them to grow and bear good fruits. We have to nurture them in order to maintain the closeness.

But sometimes as years go by, there are times that we lose contact with our friends due to busyness with our lives as we embark in our different vocations. Thus, investing a little more time to show we care is worth doing to experience the joy of friendship. Nowadays, it becomes so easy to keep in touch, we can do it through call, text, chat, email and invite them for a snack or a meal. So let’s reach out to our friends especially to those we’ve seldom seen or heard.

I recall what Orly Wahba said in one of her reflections in her book “Kindness Boomerang”. She said, “Memories can re-create special moments. Reach out to an old friend and reminisce about a time you both shared together.” And if you doubt your plan of reaching out, Wahba has this to say: “Why do we fear reaching out? Perhaps the thing we fear most is that we’ve been forgotten, that the memories we so fondly recall are only significant to us. Remember this: If those memories meant a great deal to you, the likelihood is that they are meant a great deal to the person you shared them with. Allow yourself to be vulnerable.”

Furthermore she said, “life gets busy on all ends, so be mindful not to place blame or point fingers as to why you haven’t kept in touch. Feelings of anger, hurt, and resentment will prevent you from reconnecting with those people in your life that you’ve drifted from.”

Indeed, reaching out to old friends bring joy and warm feelings. Just like what happened to me last November 2018, where I saw that one of my college buddies whom I have not seen for years was online on Messenger. I immediately sent her a private message asking how is she. From then on the conversation led to the setting of date where we would see each other in person. As agreed we met in a mall here in Davao City. We had a snack in a food chain store and had a wonderful time as we shared stories and updated each other on the things that happened in our lives. Despite the years that passed without knowing each other’s whereabouts, the friendship bond is still there. It was such a wonderful moment reconnecting with one another. Thus, before we bid goodbye we promised to keep in touch through text and chat and see each other in person in the near future. Since then we have been in contact with each other.

With that, may we find time to reach out to our old friends and enjoy their company. Let us also ponder on what Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:12-14, “This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this to give one’s life for one’s friend: and you are my friend if you do what I command you.”

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.” – William Shakespeare