In the past couple of weeks I have been researching some of the old High Schools that I have attended and I have even gotten back into contact with some of the people that I knew of were friends with. I had some really great times in some of the High Schools that I grew up in and I was really interested in seeing just how much change has happened with some of the old friends that I used to have while growing up.
In coming into contact with many of my friends from the past (who have just been great people by the way - you know who you are), I have found a couple of things that have really surprised me.
1. I have been really surprised by just how many people I grew up with who are not Christian or religious in any way (this is not saying something negative about these people, it is just an observation). While growing up I was an atheist and when I was 24 years old I became a Christian and I was truly wondering if anyone might have some insight at to why. Geographically the schools are located in Japan, Texas, and North Carolina. I am very open to input and would love to receive some different perspectives about why this is.
2. I have also been surprised to find out that not too many people even remember who I am (I bet I got a bunch of laugh out loud's from that one). I am naturally a very introspective person so needless to say this got me to thinking about why only a few people would even remember me. I mean, come on, I grew up knowing 1,000's of people and hundreds I considered my friends; why would such a small amount even remember me? Is there something about my personality that has pushed people away or is there something about my personality that people found hard to develop a close relationship with? I have seen that the people that I have just gotten into contact with have developed great friendships with others that we went to school with, so what happened with me? Is this due to mistakes that I made in the past (I did make a few doozies in my time) or is this due to constantly moving around? I am asking for some input on this so that I can see if there is something that maybe I can change about myself to make myself more accessible to others so that I can develop some lifelong friendships.
I would just like to challenge everyone reading this to contemplate their own lives and look inside of themselves to see if they are living the kind of lives in which the people they are surrounded with will remember them in 10-20 years (learn from my mistakes), and if they are the kind of person that people will always remember, what will people always remember you for?
