With them, we wanted to grow up so quickly…
Oct 12th, 2008 by Angele
Sometimes we think that things in this life change so fast. At other times we have the feeling that things change very slowly. On and off we wonder if they ever change at all. The scary part being that we’ve all been hit with change at some point, and it doesn’t seem to have come slowly at all.
Years back we stepped into high school… individuals seeking to do well, to find our identity, to discover our path in life. We had a new attitude, looking to fit in, wanting to achieve something. We followed our daily routines, expanded our circle of friends, and gossiped about dates and parties. We just couldn’t wait to get older.
We rebelled and we learned. We got accepted and we got rejected. We had crushes and we thought our life was over when we got heart broken. And yet, we still couldn’t wait to get older.
Somehow along the way, we finally grew up. We went our own directions. Some started to work right after school, some went to universities here or abroad. We lost sight of the people we considered to be our closest friends. Maybe for a short time or maybe forever. Another life… getting excited to start over, feeling sad about the things we leave behind, being anxious to move on. We experience real life. We happen to change and to become different people.
We sometimes remember our school years, our friends and our innocence. We look fondly at the memories. Some of us are lucky to still have that same best friend. So many years brought change. But friendship held us strong when things were shaky, in good times and bad, in laughter and tears, through boyfriends, bad grades, family problems, and love … With them, we wanted to grow up so quickly.
Life teaches us so much. It forces our real friends to come to the front, while the rest take their places in the shadows of our memories. We lose some people but through real friendship we keep the ones we will need most in our life.
Last night I “met” a school friend on facebook. We went to primary school together, ended up at the same high school but somehow we lost each other when we both went for further studies. After so many years we finally managed to get back in contact. I was happy but at the same time it felt strange. It brought me back to those school years where things were so different. And as we talked, I realized that indeed a lot has changed. We both went through terrible family issues, we got bruised but in the end, we survived.
Maybe the time has gone, but the faces and the friendships I recall.
A year ago (and years before that), I couldn’t wait to get older, now that I’m in the last year of high school, I kind of want it to last. Having fun with my friends, getting along with the teachers, partying a bit, I can’t imagine how it’ll be like after I’ll finish high school and have to get a job.
Kind of a weird feeling altogether.
I wonder why I feel you even though I’m still not done with my education…
To Robbie,
I know that feeling. You finally realize that you could have waited to get older, huh?
You realize that time has somehow slipped away and soon you will be saying good-bye to that part of your life in which you have evolved for so many years.
But you can still take the time and appreciate every moment you have left about school.
To day-dreamer,
I guess somehow you fear that day coming too soon. After so many years studying, we are finally given the chance to fly with our own wings. Sometimes this is scary.
IMHO, a fulfilled life is not possible without friends.
*hugs*
beautiful pic!!! did you take it?
i <3 it!
it’s funny that you blog about “best friend” and about how life changes us. i have been thinking about this for some time now.
a friend of mine whom i have known since high school and whom i still think of as my best friend…well, he has pretty much stopped all communication with me. his reason: i ve got a job! o.0
holy…! how does that work? can you explain it to me?
now, i’m like lost…coz i need to re-define what i understand by friendship!
To Jemima,
So true
But then again there are friends and “friends”. You know what i mean!
To Waz,
Definitely sometimes people can act weird. Those who said they would always stick around for you, those whom you think of as your friends… sometimes they prove you wrong and for no apparent reason, they just disappear from your life.
I can’t really explain your friend’s behavior either but maybe he has some inferiority issues? Some people are like that you know. They can’t stand it that their friends achieve more than they do and they feel somehow inferior. So they just take their distance.
Maybe he has other reasons also. That’s too bad though because according to me, true friendship should surpass all that.
As for the picture, I also think it’s very pretty. But that’s not from me. I kinda… *cough*… “stole” it from the internet! *blush*
i guess so…
i hope maybe he will explain himself…
very very very beautiful pic…it makes me wanna shoot one likewise!
Life really teaches us a lot – more than we actually thought it did anyway. Well, we contradict ourselves too much sometimes because when we were younger we cannot wait to grow older and it is the opposite when we are older. We go through many paths, trials and tribulations but what matters most are the lessons that we’ve learned throughout the process.
I ran screaming away from my youthful life, eager to start again on a completely different path. I still think I made the right choice, but I also can’t help thinking back to my school days. They also keep appearing in my dreams whether I like it or not.
I think we tend to idealize (or demonize) our past once we’ve gotten away from it, and when it comes back to haunt us again (for better or worse) we often remember what it was really like. Sometimes we are surprised, too.
Of course, I also stayed in touch with most of my old high school circle of friends, adding to it college friends, as well. They still seem somehow like family, and I value that connection.
Here in Japan I was told (by a nurse/counselor at the school where I work) that my continuing contact with my friends was a sign of immaturity. Once you become an adult other people are supposed to cease to matter. You associate with your current work group, hobby group, neighborhood group, etc. simply because they are current. If someone leaves that group, you just forget about them and move on. In the meantime, your relationship with the current members should never be anything but superficial. You should never allow yourself to be close to anyone. You support each other only because you have to, and you should just as easily exploit or betray each other if you feel you have to. That’s what I was told…by someone whose job is to help guide children into adulthood…but to me, that way of thinking seems disturbingly cold and shallow. I suppose it is a form of survival mechanism in a fast-paced, work-based society, but it’s still pretty ugly.
What a lonely world we live in…
@ The Moody Minstrel:
amen to that!
Reminds me of something I wrote when I was on hiatus. It should still be around in a copybook somewhere. Maybe one day when I find it, I will post it online to share my thoughts with everyone.
Till now, I often think about my ‘best friends’ back in primary school. Back in those days, we all really believed that we will be best friends forever. We were too young and too inexperienced to realize that we will all be going our separate ways one day.
When we are younger, we want to grow up quickly. Years later, we don’t want to age quickly.
@ aline:
such is life!
we will have to deal with it…hoping for the best and preparing for the worst!