I have been officially working (W2/Paycheck) since 1974 with a couple of breaks along the way, to have my children as well as a couple other reasons, and have met and known hundreds of people. Some just came in and out of my life and others were people that I grew close to whether for a short time or a life time. I do have a couple of friends that I have known since I started in electronics over 30 years ago but most of the people that I'm close to now are ones that I have known for 15 years or less. It is difficult at times to stay friends with people that you meet at work once you leave for another company because it soon becomes "out of sight, out of mind". You each have your jobs, your daily lives and your interaction is minimized to the point where it sort of fades away. What I have found as I have gotten older is that the friendships that I have cultivated over the last 10-15 years have meant more to me and have been deeper and more lasting than the ones I had when I was younger. (again with the exception of those that I have known for 30 years)
I put more value on my associations with people now that I am older because of the rewards from knowing them. We all tend to gravitate to people that are friendly to us or have common interests or simply because we sit next to them all day. But of those people, how many do you tend to pursue a more lasting friendship with? It is those that you find a true connection with. Something that goes deeper than just the person that you see from 8-5. There are people at my "previous" job that I found that connection with. These are people that have had an impact on my life. In other words, sappy as it may sound, I am a better person for having known you. You affected my life in some way that was profound and meaningful. So, I thank you all for that. And I say this now because you all have to be told if you don't already know that I am TERRIBLE about keeping in touch with people. I will do better and as I said, now that I am older it has more meaning and significance for me so staying in touch is important. It just is easier said than done.
I get emails from people all the time about friends, sisters, special people, and they all say that it needs to be forwarded to 9 people or 15 people and while I don't mind getting those I very rarely do anything with them. I know who my friends are. Some agree with me politically, some are on the same plane spiritually, some share my sense of humor, some are on the same philosophical level, and some are just at that "aquaintence" level where it could grow into a long term friendship or stay right there and never go further than talking about the weather. And that's ok too.
One of my goals has been to live my life in such a way as to have a positive influence on the people I meet. And while I don't wear my Christian beliefs on my sleeve for all to see and hear, I do try to show people that my happy outlook, contentment, and serenity all come from within and are directly tied to my relationship with God. I also try to show that life is just too short to waste valuable energy on the negative stuff. It's just not worth it. Here are some thoughts to ponder; laughter burns more calories than anger does, it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile, and crows feet are not a sign of age, it is a sign of a person who has smiled alot in their life and has the lines to prove it. I'm proud of mine!
Anyhow, after visiting my former place of employment today and having an interesting and enlightening conversation with a couple of young ladies, I realized two things. That I probably DON'T want to go back to work there if an opportunity arose, and that the people (at that place) that are important to me will remain that way long after today.
My late night philosophical rantings are now complete, for today.
