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There is a lot on my mind this morning. I am not sure how I can delicately approach one of my subjects, so I am not sure it I will…. Guess I will see where this takes me.
Why do we keep people in our lives that are not healthy for us? We all have friends, acquaintances, and sometimes even family members that we know only cause problems, heartache or pain. Knowing this, why don't we cut them loose?
I tend to think that we hang onto these people because at one point we had a good relationship with them, and somewhere deep inside we believe that if we try hard enough, or want it bad enough, the relationship can become normalized again. I have a few of those that I struggle with. It is hard to talk yourself into cutting them off completely and committing to not having anything to do with them at all.
But, the longer we wait, the harder it gets and sometimes even the situation worsens. There is a saying that says I can never enough friends… well I would like to change that to say You can never have enough GOOD friends, but one bad friend is more than enough.
Life is short enough as it is, spend the time cultivating friendships that will grow and produce good fruit. Trim your garden of the weeds as it were.
The second subject is indirectly connected to the first, dealing with a fractured family. What do you do when your extended family makes a conscious choice to avoid you and keep you out of your life? I have a sister that is like this. They live 12 hours away; will drive within 5 minutes of our house on their way to a vacation spot without even as much as a phone call. While I am mostly ok with this, I have not had a relationship with this sister for many years. At the same time it still hurts, and some of her children have picked up on this practice of hers. Fortunately, God blessed me with two sisters. My other sister lives 10 minutes away and is the best sister I could ever hope for. She was there with me day after day while my mom was in the hospital before she passed away, has been there with me though my father's health problems, we have spent countless hours at sporting events watching each other's kids. I was also able to enjoy a couple of cruises with her, all great memories.
I don't know what my future holds, but I do know that wherever life takes me, my relationship with her will always remain a priority because of the time that we have spent together.
My message today is simple, let the people in your life that are important know how much they mean to you. Spend the time with those that mean the most.
