I was spoilt last week with three different catch-ups with friends who I have not seen for ages. All people who have known me longer than the Engineer. People who even if we have not spoken for ages we just pick up where we left off.
Last week was a particularly weird emotional week for me. There is currently a lot of work pressure and I am determined to make the work home balance work as I have mentioned here. I want to fit things in but, currently, I am just always catching up!
On Tuesday morning I was working from home and I received a video call from a friend who has known me since primary school. He needed help with work issues but we started chatting as old friends do, realising that we have not spoken since January. Forty minutes later I hang up, feeling appreciated and even a little helpful.
Tuesday night I have a dinner date with two of my university friends. The one I have known since my first year of studies and the second joined the crazyness while I was busy with my Masters. They are both academics and I absolutely loved chatting with friends who understand what I do for a living and have the same challenges, get excited about the same stationery and have about 100 book recommendations for me.
On Thursday night a friend from school dropped in for dinner. We had also wanted to go out, but the Engineer had a tennis match, so we stayed in. She brought gifts for the Lilliputians who are now smitten and would like her to come to dinner every night.
These were three very different conversations with people that I adore and admire for different reasons. People who I respect for unique qualities and people who I am still in contact with after … almost all for more than 20 years because we connected through something small. People who I could easily chat with about more than the weather and people who I know have my back as I hope, they know, I have theirs.
And from this social week I learned a few lessons:
- Even if you do not speak every day it does not mean that your tribe is not thinking about you.
- There is a lot of value in people who stick around for the ride, especially if they have known you longer than life.
- I do not tell people that I appreciate them enough – it should become a goal.
- No matter where you are in life, we all have challenges.
- Do not ever compare yourself with someone else, because everything may not be what it seems.