Image

I've always had this image in my mind of what the perfect friendship/relationship would look like. It's an image that both haunts me, and calls out to me. The image changes slightly, but the major theme is always the same. Sometimes it is of a pair of friends walking together, sometimes a couple sitting on the beach, and sometimes a couple holding hands and walking together. The one aspect of the image that has always stood out to me is this: the two people within the image are always looking in the same direction.

It's 12:49am Wednesday morning, and I don't see myself going to sleep any time soon. I'm wide awake with nothing, and everything on my mind.

What is it about this image that stirs something so deep within me, you may ask? Well, the answer is this: It is so often the case that we see friends together, looking at each other, laughing, talking, or enjoying themselves. We see still frames of the same thing, candid photos of memories made in the moment. The images that mean the most to me, are those of 2 individuals with their focus in the same direction. Gently leading each other to where they are both supposed to be.

It is hard to find a friendship, or even an intimate relationship where two people have, not only the same goals, but the patience to help the other person achieve theirs. Those friendships, and those relationships are precious and should be cherished. I have a couple people in my life who I know will be with me forever, and who I know I can always depend on. They have understood me, laughed with me, cried with me, and helped to guide me slowly along the way, while walking with me.

I've struggled, I've fallen, and I've needed help to get my feet back on level ground. God has never failed to pull me back up, though, or to provide me with these people in my life.

Look at the people in your life, and consider who it is that helps you. Who is it that inspires you to do better, to go further, and to reach the goals that you set for yourself long ago? Who is it that challenges you? That is something I think most people lack in their lives, and why we so often settle for a life just below what we had really imagined for ourselves; we lack the constant, and necessary, element of being challenged. We shouldn't accept mediocrity in our lives, when we are built and designed for so much more. Every single person is born with so much potential, but we shy away from it as we get older. We accept that "we are who we are, and that is enough."

It should never be "enough." We should absolutely always be striving for something, and setting goals and expectations for ourselves. Never give up on who you want to be, and never settle for the belief that you can't achieve everything you want in your life. Surround yourself with people who are going to walk with you, while looking in the same direction--who will inspire and encourage you along the way. Never settle, and always dream of something more today than you did yesterday.

Cheers.