"Make New Friends and Keep the Old..."

"Make new friends, and keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold."

 

I'm sure many of you have heard the preceeding lyrics. Sung around a fire at camps or youth groups, the song has been used to encourage kids not to limit themselves to the current friends they have. There are so many wonderful people out in the world! Why would we want to limit ourselves to only a few close friends?

 

Yesterday, I made an unexpected friend. I am not very good at making friends; I am pretty quiet around people when I first meet them, but once I get to know them a bit I can be very bubbly. Sadly, sometimes people miscontrue my timidness and think that because I'm bubbly with some people and not others, they think I might be stuck-up. But that is not the case! I love making new friends, I'm just shy at first. Considering that, the way I made my new friend yesterday was amazing.

 

Before waiting for a bus to go to St. John's, I went to run in to the "Good to Go" to buy a piece of banana bread and I said a warm "Hello!" to a friend as I went in. When I came back out for the bus, I siddled up to her and peeked at the article she was reading. I asked her, "Whatcha reading?" When she looked up at me, she answered, "Oh, ethics!" By this time, I had finally realized that she was not my friend, but someone who looked very similar! Since I had already done the hard part of breaking the ice, I thought, "Why not?!" and continued to talk easily with her the whole bus ride. By the end of the ride, I had made a new friend named Josie!

 

Today was a day for getting reaquainted with old friends. First, I had breakfast with my good friend Hudda. She was born in Somalia, and she is the strongest woman I know! It is always inspiring to have a chat with Hudda.

 



 

I also had lunch with another friend, Audrey. I hadn't seen her since spring semester 2012! Studying abroad, I never saw her last semester, and this semester I have not seen her around campus, so I invited her to eat lunch with me so we could catch up!

 

Sometimes we need to take initiative in order to make and keep good friends. If I hadn't been so friendly to Josie yesterday, I might not have ever met her. And with Hudda and Audrey, it takes a little planning to keep up with our friendships. But it is worth it! So take initiative! You never know what awesome people you will find out in the world, so go say hi to someone you might not know.

 

With simple happiness,