The Learning Curve

Over the years, I have made a number of friends. Different kinds of people, from different parts of the world, with different perspectives and different personalities. Once upon a time, I was a lousy friend. I never performed to my fullest. I let myself and my friends down on many occasions. They were just people who I played cricket with, or guys at school or kids my age who just happened to live in the same neighborhood.

Gradually, my views on this topic changed. I learned some valuable lessons, sometimes the hard way. I became more mature and responsible towards my friends. I understood that I had a duty. My relationships with most of them matured, took a new direction. I never let them down anymore, or at least tried not to. I began to realize that this wasn’t a piece of chocolate cake with icing on top, it wasn’t a walk in the park with my babysitter holding my hand, and it wasn’t something that could be taken lightly. Screwing up is easy, just like dying. It is holding on to life that is difficult. You have to strive, work hard at any relationship in order to keep your end of the bargain.

It’s been such a long time since I screwed up that I had forgotten that I CANNOT take it. I cannot handle being a poor friend; it just throws me into an abyss. Recently, I let a friend down and I didn’t realize it until she told me about what went wrong and how I had played a part in it. Once I understood my mistake, I knew what had gone wrong with me. I had taken things for granted, which is something I never do. This took me to another planet. I just had to deal with it, deal with myself. Nothing else around me made sense, nothing else mattered. It was a reverie! It is this feeling inside me that ensures the safe landing of future voyages. It helps me to be careful of turbulence. I just hope I haven’t lost my seat yet.