On a recent drive home from visiting my oldest and dearest friend, I had a revelation. Old friends really are the fountain of youth.
As we age and responsibilities mount, we become logical, serious, careful. In some cases we literally fight to survive. And, if we’re not conscious of it, life can start to feel more like a train on a track than a boat in an open ocean. Our day-to-day existence can start to feel remarkably “mature” – commuting to work, securing the future, preparing our children for adulthood… battling automated phone systems to research the best life insurance plan.
It’s funny though – in a single encounter with my friend I can be reduced to uncontrollable laughter over some old story or dance in the middle of her kitchen to a song from our distant past. I immediately connect to a time when the world was filled with possibility. The reason is simple; she knew me before my divorce, before I went back to college to change careers, before car payments and a healthy diet ever had to be a consideration. We remember each other’s dreams and potential and allow each other to see it very clearly, as though life never happened. It’s easy, with an old friend, to rekindle that enthusiasm and connect with who we really are. We can remember, and become again, young women who are hopeful, filled with purpose and, at times, downright giddy. And all of that helps us to redirect our thoughts and energy away from the pressures of today and toward far more positive pursuits. Even better, our daughters get to see that deeper part of us – the essence of who we really are – the inner child that never really left.
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