The Bigger Picture

I recently have pissed somebody off and even though I feel justified in what I did, they do as well, but I don't find the arguement worthy of a long-term stand-off. But that is what it seems we have here.

I have watched this person grow bitter and defensive over the last few years and I have grown more and more concerned that I am losing them. They are important to me and I am surely losing them. They are losing themselves too, but I can't show them that. That is up to them to realize on their own.

I don't feel they have a support system in their lives where they can afford to lose another person close to them. I feel guilty avoiding them, but I have because I sometimes feel uncomfortable and judged around them. I don't want to keep taking steps back to make it easier on me, only to realize this person is no longer within sight.

I see the Bigger Picture and that is that People Need People. BUT we need to accept people for what they are in our lives and not expect everyone to be exactly like us. I can appreciate some of my friends' oddities and laugh with them about how different they are in their daily trappings and routines. It's okay. How interesting people are and how enlightening it is to open my mind and see a different way. I love to tell stories about my experiences. I love to listen to others' life's journies and ask them questions about them. I always can find something in common with a person, even it is just something they like to eat that I like, or a place that we have both been. I am happy to meet them and appreciate them for enriching my day.

I don't feel I need to give my time on this earth to negative people. Defensive people who feel no one understands their lives and that most people have it easier than them. We all manage what we have. We all sacrifice. I can only listen so long to a story of something bad happening to a person but then hearing them not doing all they can to improve that situation. Blaming others. Pitying themselves.

I can tolerate ups and downs. I have been there. I understand feelings about life and love and anything changing from one minute to the next. I have been there. I am a good talker and listener and do not mind trying to figure things out. I have been blessed to have people in my life who have done that for me.

I want to pay it forward. I try to make my life better by making good decisions and doing the best I can, but I also want to offer myself to others, things I can do or say, or by just listening, to give them hope. If they want it.

If a person doesn't want to hope, or doesn't know what they want, they will eventually be alone. And not just physically alone, but lost-alone. No higher being to believe in or ask for help. No friends who are really there to hear all the details and offer a shoulder to cry on. No family around them to offer unconditional love. The walls will be up to protect them, understandably, but inside those walls it will be lonely.

I pray that I can still be there to help them out. I am not one to give up on a person. I typically stay for the long-haul. I value the people in my life, especially the ones who have made me who I am. I will try to always be here for them, if they want me.