Another Chance

I've been looking back on the past few years. A train of thought more fitting for new year's, but life just postponed it by a month - coincidently a new year in a more egocentric manner. I thought about the things I've accomplished and experienced. The things I've sacrificed and the opportunities that passed me by. The people I've gotten to know so much better, and the others that drifted away. I started thinking about the things that make up our lives and decided: we are so much more than our grades, dreams, and experiences. Instead, we are the people who break through our barriers. We are that newly-made friend you never imagined tolerating, let alone admiring. We are the people we let slip away - reminders of how fragile a relationship is, no matter how long it took to build. So I realized that while I wish I stayed close to certain people, I'm generally satisfied with the way life turned out. Although I can remember having a completely different and much more intimate dynamic with some people, the status quo came about for a reason. Inevitably, friends become strangers, and strangers become friends; and maybe we need to experience loss to get closer to the people we truly love: an opportunity I wouldn't give up for any second-attempt at the past. Ultimately, we have to let some people go, and let others in, for the sake of our own growth. But most importantly, we have to focus on the people we have in our lives, rather than the ones we've lost. We are only as strong as our friends and our capacity to appreciate them.
-Gal