Limit me not.

It's amazing how life twists and turns. We come in and go out. Friendships disappear, change, morph into something new or better. Humans are fickle creatures. My dog Zoe will be faithful until the end of time as long as you give her love and plenty of steak, but people are not so easy to appease. I bring this up simply because I am reflecting on my own life and the changes I have made through-out the years. In a few days I will be a year older and perhaps a bit wiser.

I am surprised how I have come full circle. See, in a way, I have changed considerably. When I was 18 I became involved with some undesirable people and I followed a path of destruction up until my 22nd birthday. By that time I was married and living a life that I never planned on having. Yes, there was some self-destruction through-out the years leading from then to now, but for the most part I have grown into what I consider "me." The ironic part is that I have become the person I was back when I was 16 and 17 ... Just a bit more mature and with a stronger sense of what I want and who I want to be. With my 26th birthday in sight, I can see that it only took me 10 years to get back to the person I was meant to become.

On my path to self-awareness I collected a few new friends. Most of them are haunts from my past. Friendly ghosts if you will. Reconnecting with these people has made me wonder how I ever lived without them. Yet, when we talk, it is as if no time has gone by at all. As though I did not live without them. They were always in my heart and mind which is what made the reunions so sweet. I value my friendships more than I had ever though possible. I remember my parent's telling me that I would only have 2 or 3 close friends (if I was lucky) and the rest would merely become acquaintances. I think they are wrong. Friendships can not be defined in such limited terms.

I do not know where I will be in the next 10, 20, or 30 years, but I do know that I will continue to grow as a person and that the people in my life will remain constant reminders of the person I am striving to be. These people make me who I am, if only for their company and soothing words. We can not stop the change. It is all a part of evolution. Our bodies change, our minds change and sometimes our hearts change. We can not stop the change, but we can determine how we are going to let that change affect ourselves and the people in our lives.