Catching Up

Catching Up

I recently attended a dinner with many dear friends back home. Sometimes there’s so much “catching up” to do in a limited amount of time that the conversations tend to be overwhelming. You focus on giving everyone your undivided attention so as not to miss out on anything special that might be happening at that moment in their lives. I love “catching up” especially since I don’t get to see my dearest friends very often anymore because several thousand miles now separate us. It’s a special time that I cherish when I go ”home.”

Time spent with friends is precious, and as we reach certain milestones on our journey, we can never be certain that this meeting might not be our last chance to catch up with those very special people. Paying attention and listening intently to what our friends have to say is not only a gift to them but also to ourselves because, by choosing to be in the moment, we somehow get insights into what our own journey is all about.

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”—Karl A. Menninger