Change...
I am now more convinced than ever that the past is best left as it is and that one can never go back to the way things were, in a manner of speaking. Not that I would ever want to relive the past, but there are moments when one longs back to times when things were easier to deal with, a lot less complicated and not weighed down by the trappings of success. I met up with a few old friends over the weekend. These are buddies that I have grown up with, my crew, and we spent most of our teens and early adulthood together. Inseparable, is how people described us. We have had many adventures together… some good, some bad, but mostly these are the friends that have shaped my thinking, my goals and ideals, my life and I would sooner die than have anything bad happen to anyone of them. Seeing them again and being together for the first time and what seemed like ages was a truly fulfilling experience and made this weekend one that I will remember for a long time to come. Between the booze and the noise and the “juvenile” antics, I could not help but notice, and I am sure they have to, how much we have changed over the past 5 years. By and large we are still the same people, yet we have all changed in subtle ways. Ways that make you tilt your head, raise an eyebrow and think to yourself… “Wow, I never thought Tom would be capable of doing that” or “That way of thinking is so unlike the Michael I knew from 5 years back” I guess it is a good thing… people grow and change and that perhaps is the one constant you can depend on. Hopefully we become better people as we mature, but I also hope that we would be able to hold onto that which makes us unique and special. I trust my buddies had the same good thoughts about me as I had about them. The connection we shared all those years back is still there, but we have new dimensions to our personalities and psyche that was not there before. I guess things could have taken a turn for the worse and I may have been freaked by some of the things they got up to since we last got together. The last couple of years had its ups and downs but on the whole all of us have been fairly successful and we made things happen on a personal and professional level. A trend I trust will continue for the next 5 years and beyond. So here’s to the future… the past can never be relived and as we continue to grow older, despite life's inevitable major or minor changes, it is good to know that you can always rely on the people who matters to you, even if they and you are constantly evolving and growing.
