Deconstructing relationships

Forever friends living happily ever after.

It is a myth.

Friends aren't forever. Relationships never last.

The personal journey of one may converge then run parallel to another's for a certain period. It may be parallel for years, months, weeks or simply a few days. The intensity of warmth, the shared camaraderie, experiences and feelings, the sense of belonging may unite to convince one that this is one relationship that'd last for a lifetime.

Each journey may also merely be tangential. Strangers who happen to sit side by side on the train. The auntie who sold one that bottle of Sprite on a warm afternoon. There is a brief intersection of Life's lines, intersections that may go on to become something more or maybe just simply fade away.

Yet, eventually, pathways diverge. Tangential lines split as quickly as they touch. Parallel journeys may encounter unforeseen variables that alter their gradients and directions.

We each have to be responsible for ourselves. We need to grow and mature and develop into the wisest, most loving people we can be. We need to walk alongside different people and learn from all around us. We need our pathways to be shifting lines of convergence and divergence, to pulsate with the palpitations of Life.

To attempt to structure our journeys in Life so that it runs parallel to another's is foolhardy and selfish. It is to deny oneself the opportunity to evolve and, likewise, deny one's friends - the very people one cherishes and wishes to stay close to - the opportunity for growth.

This is why I feel that friendships will never last. There are crests and troughs in the relationships, moments of closeness and diffidence. Relationship waxes and wanes. There are thick and thin lines unfolding messily on the map of Life.

For better and for worse, friendships don't last.