DAY 43 - WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?

Today a handful of us got together to celebrate a Birthday Lunch of our dear friend, Jan Billings. Jan is an adorable dynamo, and in her 80+ years has lived a lot of life and gathered a lot of friends. It was fun to get together just to visit for an hour and enjoy our friendships. And last night there was an Open House for my neighbor (just home from a mission), and again, a great gathering of friends – just to visit and catch up.

   Sure, there are some friends that I see fairly regularly, and some that I see occasionally, and some sadly that I see all too infrequently. And it’s because I feel like I need an “excuse” to get together with people. That’s one reason why I do my Big Birthday Bash every year – not because I think my birthday is a big deal, but that it’s ideally timed in early June (right after school gets out but before Summer Vacations really get underway). And mostly because it’s a great excuse to have a party and get together to see friends.

   A friend, Jodie Naranjo, stopped by Saturday Afternoon – because she knew I was having a Garage Sale and she happened to be in the area. I haven’t see Jodie in about a year, despite the fact that we worked together for over 8 years, and there’s a great mutual respect there. Let me just tell you – Jodie is one of the coolest people I know. She’s funny as heck, incredibly smart, has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know, and is just great to hang out with. So why don’t I hang out with her more? Because I don’t have a good “excuse” to hang out with her – which is silly, and something I am going to make an effort to change.

   I do that a lot – and I think most of us do. We need an “excuse” to do certain things with certain people. Why??? For me I guess I always felt like I wasn’t “cool” enough or that no one would want to hang out with me unless there was a good excuse. (Obviously left over effects of the Abandonment issues I’m still battling.)

   And that is one of the things I’m going to address on this 83-day Journey: to celebrate the friendships with which I have been so richly blessed. I’ve gotten better about celebrating the great things & events in my life – and now I want to celebrate the relationships that I have. Because I truly believe that this life is all about the way that we treat each other in this world and the relationships that we make that will carry beyond this world.

   Being single, I spend far too much time alone and often have evenings when I wish there was someone to hang out with – heck, just to be with. And I’m really sure I’m not alone in feeling alone.

   Wanna hang out? We don’t need an excuse.