Soul Sisters; Embracing our Divine Friendships

  
I truly believe those of us who have a handful of close girlfriends are among some of the luckiest people on earth, along with those of us who have a best friend in a spouse, parent or child. These close relationships are what life is about. Without relationships, who are we really?

 When we leave earth, we are remembered not by how financially wealthy we were, how educated we were, how dedicated of an employee we were... but more often, how we made others feel when we came in contact with them. Life is about relationships.

 

How would your closest friends describe you, would they remember you for your status in society or by the depth of their relationship with you? I have often asked myself that exact question and what I have come to realize is that I know, even though I have made many MANY mistakes, I believe that my friends know I would be there for them... rain, sleet or shine, no matter what they need. Throughout my life my close friends have always been a priority, because I love them and want them to know they are loved and valued.

 

I have been blessed by many friendships, but honestly, the ones that stick out the most, aren't the ones who were there to just enjoy life with, but the ones that were there in my weakest moments, there for me when I was in utter despair and chose to drag me out of it. Those are the friendships that you take with you to the grave and I believe will go on long after that. Those are the relationships that started off as friends but ended up, somehow more like family.  They are your soul sisters.

 

I have spoken with many women who say that they don't have many female friendships, and that after high school or college, they just focused on what they believe mattered most...usually a love relationship, boyfriend, husband etc. Then once they started their family, it was just natural to focus on their children. In no way do I disagree that our husbands and children and even extended family is important. I just know after talking with so many women, that most of them, at some point regret losing touch with girlfriends.

 

I would encourage those of you reading that have let once valuable friendships fall to the wayside to attempt to reconnect, and if necessary repair that friendship. Sometimes all that is needed is to pick up the phone, call them, and say "I have been thinking about you and I am sorry it's been so long since we have talked."

 

Also, it's important that we listen to our gut, when an old friend pops into your head, send them an email, a Facebook message, or better yet...give them a call. Sometimes that is all it takes to rebuild an old friendship.

 

I was recently struggling while dealing with a personal family crisis when my husband mentioned to me that he had run into one of my old friends, and she had mentioned to him that her family was going through a very similar crisis. He did not tell her what we were experiencing, but I immediately knew I had to call her. The fact that it had been over four years since we had seen each other didn't matter to me. We hadn't ended on bad terms at all...we used to live near each other, and about seven years ago we had moved about an hour away. We were both engrossed in our own lives, and just lost touch.

I called her and I could tell she was happy to hear from me. I told her I am sorry to hear about what she is going through and that we are experiencing a similar situation. We decided to meet up later that week for dinner. When we sat down and started talking, amazingly, there was no uncomfortable silence... we just fell right back into where we left off four years ago.

A good friend explained to me recently while we were discussing friendships, that there are some friendships, like good movies, that you can just put on pause and when you push play again, it seems as if no time had lapsed at all. This was one of those friendships.

 We talked for a couple hours the first night and then on the phone a couple times throughout the next couple weeks. We met up again, and this time brought our daughters with, who also used to be good friends and hadn't seen each other in years. As we were talking over dinner we both agreed that we believe it was Divine intervention that brought us together. She said after she got off of the phone with me that first night, she told her daughter that she knew this was a "God-thing". I definitely agree with her!

 There are certain times in life when we are dealing with one issue or another that we may not feel like anyone else fully understands, or gets it... even at times our closest friends. That's the time to keep your radar on. So when you run into an old friend at a store or connect with a possible new friend, I encourage you to take the time to recognize the moment and run with it. You never know how it may turn out.  I fully believe there is no such thing as coincidence, I believe those are the Divine moments, and when we are open to it, beautiful things can happen.
 

I am so thankful that I reconnected with this friend, I am thankful that she understands what I am going through and doesn't judge me. I am also thankful that I can be there for her, to listen and support her.

Until next time ~Geli