That’s Harsh!

Yes, but there are times when you discover that many may have moved on without you.Life

I remember how I lost interest in school when my best friend moved away. Sure, I had other friends, but with my best friend gone . . . I felt lost.

This demonstrates that at that time in my life I was a follower, not a leader. Without my leader, I didn’t want to go on and things didn’t really seem to matter.

Of course, I was down in the dumps when I walked home from school. My mother was fully aware of my best friend moving away and she wondered how it was going to affect me.

It did. Quite profoundly. But it didn’t have to and my mother didn’t want it to linger.

Getting Over It

It didn’t happen magically after baking cookies with my mother.

She would have loved that, but it did continue for a few weeks. We were asked to bring a wire close hanger from home. The teacher also said if we didn’t have one, she would have extras. So, I didn’t bother to bring a close hanger. I don’t remember the project . . . in fact I don’t remember much of those first weeks to a month of that school year.

I just know I did my school work, but nothing extra.

I don’t know what woke me up, but I was in my fog of sadness over not having my best friend with me. I looked around the classroom and noticed everyone was busy and having fun. I had a blank piece of paper in front of me. I looked to see what others were doing.

Oh my goodness! They were writing and drawing pictures about their first day of school — their first day of school at that particular school.

That was when I met my best friend. So I got to work on that. I did remember everything about it. And I ended my story with her moving away and how awful I felt. I even drew a picture of a dark cloud over me.

The teacher collected our assignment and we went out for recess. Some of my friends were talking about the assignment. They spoke about how they, too, had met their best friend and how the next year they weren’t in the same classroom and each of them made other friends.

Things did work out for them. And they would work out for me, too.

A Lesson About Moving On

The teacher didn’t seem surprised by the theme many stories and pictures took.

She was prepared with a story of her own. Yet, hers had a very different twist.

She remembered how she was the new girl at the school. None of her neighbors were in her class. She had friends outside of school, but not in school. Everyone had their own friends and there didn’t seem to be room for her to join in their games.

So she made the most of it by playing on the playground equipment by herself, eating lunch alone and walking home from school alone.

Well, one day several kids were out sick with a cold or flu which left many kids alone without their friends.

That’s when she was invited to play with other kids. They were so afraid of wandering along alone, they reached out to her . . . forgetting how they treated her previously.

She decided not to remind them of their rudeness and played with them knowing when their friends returned to school in a day or two she’d be out in the cold again.

But it didn’t happen that way. Some joined in accepting her in the group and some formed other groups. It was all part of how kids change from moment to moment.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling down in the dumps, but there is always a way of making friends and making the best of every situation. Yes, it is sad to be alone, but it’s what you do with yourself that makes the difference.

Many people feel like this and there are plenty of movies about it . . . in all phases of life.

Growing From Our Experiences 

The only thing we can be sure of is nothing stays the same.

There is always change. Some good and some unpleasant. But we cope. We make the best of each and every situation. No matter how long it takes.

We learn to not let things bother us.

I found how I was missing something valuable by being down in the dumps. I almost missed that assignment. I was too busy not paying attention. The thing is, my former best friend was having a great time in her new school . . . making the best of her move. She may or may not have thought about me. It really didn’t matter because I didn’t know. Any more than she knew I was down in the dumps missing out on meeting new people and forming new friendships.

No matter what’s going on with you, you can overcome it and move on with your life. It does take some effort to look for the good and to put your best foot forward.

Just flow within the now . . . that’s basically all we have.

I remember a scene from an episode of All In The Family where Edith spoke about a snap shot of how all the action stopped in that picture. One minute they’re going on with life, pause for the picture, then continue on. It’s like that in real life. We’re constantly moving on.

If we’re not physically moving, our thoughts are. It’s seeing the next thing or doing something or making something or talking with someone. We’re constantly bombarded with thoughts. Some we act upon and others we ignore.

We may miss out on opportunities . . . or we avoided something unpleasant. But we have our set of priorities and we pretty much stick to them . . . until we realize we need to change them . . . open up a bit to new opportunities . . .

Life is ever changing . . . we can stay stuck or be happy where we are and ride it out through the end . . . or take a chance on doing something new and different . . . we may fail or succeed . . . and learn something in the process.

Every day if you’re aware of it or not are given options . . . most of the time we’re busy with what we’re doing to notice or we notice everything and are confused about weeding everything out . . . Life is a process . . .

Once again I don’t have answers for you . . . you’re the only one who knows what’s best for you.

I may know what’s best for me now . . . but I do try to keep my options open.

I wish you all the best in your daily experiences,

Sharon

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