Wednesday, May 30, 2007

BLURRED LINES

In the bar business, you come across many people on a given day, night, week, month, year, etc. Over the course of time, your interactions with those individuals will result in the formation of relationships; some casual, others more close knit. As with life in general, I've found that most of these relationships are never clear cut; almost never black and white, but exist in various shades of gray. Many of the relationships veer from acquaintance to friendship and back to acquaintance again; sometimes the relationships even end, after running its course. It used to be strange to me how that could be, since I grew up thinking that once you became friends with someone, you were friends for life.

But over time, you learn (well I've learned anyways) that life doesn't always work that way. It's kinda like a train. Along each station stop of life, you pick up some passengers and along others, you drop off some passengers. In the past, it was difficult for me to "drop off" passengers, because I always thought that you were supposed to hold on to all of your friends; But in reality, some people were only meant to be acquaintances; there for specific periods for specific reasons. People evolve and change as they move on about their lives and with change comes different sets of priorities and those priorities may not include you and vice-versa.

While that theory was difficult for me to comprehend at first, now I'm totally okay with it. Some things are meant to be; just as some people are meant to be life-long friends while others are only meant to be acquaintances. Ironically enough, I had a friend/acquaintance tell me that on more than one occasion. During my time at THIRD and LONG, I've made many life-long friends and just as many acquaintances along the way. Some people will disappear for years and re-appear and we'll pick up again as if it was yesterday. I'm sure I haven't been the easiest person to be friends with for some people, and as a result, I've probably lost more than a few in my lifetime. And that's okay. I'll be the first to say that I'm not perfect. I've also had others tell me that I'm not the easiest person to maintain a relationship with, yet they've accepted me, warts and all nevertheless. In any case, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the subject because I've found myself re-evaluating relationships again (as I am wont to do from time-to-time). Why? Why not? I think it's healthy to do so every once in awhile.

That being said, I came across this little ditty that more or less sums up the difference between acquaintance and friendship.... Tell me what you think.

ACQUAINTANCE OR FRIEND

An Acquaintance : Remains at arm's length
A Friend : Is like your own arm

An Acquaintance : Frequently has an agenda
A Friend: Is incapable of deception

An Acquaintance : Often speaks of Love
A Friend : Understands & gives Love unconditionally

An Acquaintance: Tells of their own endeavours
A Friend : Asks about your accomplishments

An Acquaintance: Is concerned about their own welfare
A Friend : Is always interested in your well being

An Acquaintance: Does not know your heart
A Friend : IS your heart and therefore is within it

An Acquaintance: Disappears in times of need
A Friend: Is always there to Love and empower you

An Acquaintance: Is often self-centred
A Friend: Is self-Less

An Acquaintance: Sometimes waivers on principle
A Friend: Never compromises principles or integrity

An Acquaintance: Wears many faces
A Friend: Never hides behind a mask

An Acquaintance: Forms many casual relationships
A Friend: Remains a friend forever -
one of the rarest gifts given or received.

~ ~ ~ ~

Note:
Every day we learn the lessons of true friendship and the
difference between those who compromise respect and integrity
and those who stand for truth and principle. We learn about
people who stand firm on decision and the weak who often
pass the responsibility to others in an attempt to save face.
A difficult lesson but a valuable tool in learning to distinguish
the difference between friend and acquaintance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author: Andrina Lejon
Poem Title: Acquaintance or Friend
Acquaintance or Friend© from One Love book series

OK, so that was somewhat sappy, but it sums up my sentiments pretty well. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Sorry to subject everyone to the sappiness, but every once in awhile it's a refreshing change from the daily bar drudgery.



nuff said