Friendship

December 16 – Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst? (Author: Martha Mihalick)

It's funny, out of my four friends there's a hierarchy and an order. Someone is 1st, 2nd, etc. During the year of 2010, that order shifted pretty drastically as I spoke and spent time with each of them. The one that I considered to be my best friend, allowed to California to change him into a person that I don't really want to talk to very often. I just could not deal with the negative thoughts all the time. Then at the same time, the friend who I had known for the least amount of time, proved themselves to be one of my closest friends, and that is where she remains now. And getting back to the original prompt, the only female friend I have has had the most positive impact on my life as anyone I've ever come in contact with. After only a couple of years, my life has benefited from her being there and being around. I wouldn't necessarily say my perspective has changed, but she has definitely changed my life for the better. 

Another friend of mine, who had his second child this year with his longtime girlfriend, has changed my perspective on a few different things. We don't speak often, but there's a brotherly bond that we have which makes not speaking perfectly fine. I visited him for a weekend over the summer. Seeing him go from skirt-chasing teenager to a father with degree, house, and his own family in a few short years made me realize that the age is approaching where I am going to be expected to find that "someone", get married and start a family. In some weird way, its made me more critical of the females I bring into my life. My dad always said, "if you can't see yourself marrying her, don't mess with her". So taking this advice along with my friend's newfound fatherhood, I apply these principles in my everyday life and whenever I see a dad with his small child, I can't help but to imagine it was me. The change with this particular thing was more of an epiphany, but going back to the friend in California, it was a gradual change in my mindset that made me realize what was really going on.