Interactions
My father once told me-- and he never much tells me much of anything, but this one time-- he told me that people are only your friends for as long as they find a use for you. It was a sad assessment, but given how he approaches his life, I'm not surprised he would make that claim. And perhaps, if you strip away everything in a human's relationship and examine both her reasons behind associating with someone and that someone's reasons as well, maybe it's true-- we only remain in each other's company as long as there is a use for it.
However, rather than see this as a cold, calculated thing or as something selfish to be reminded of to avoid taking things personally, I'd prefer to see it as a lesson in our journey through life. People enter into our lives to learn from us and to teach things to us. There are always exchanges being made. This does not mean that we aren't motivated by love, however, or that even at the end of a relationship we can't continue to love that person we shared a temporary bond with.
The Buddhists talk about 'detachment.' They say that attachment leads to suffering, so you must learn to cut yourself free from your earthly desires.
But I'm not a Buddhist. To attach yourself to something does cause suffering, but it also causes joy as well as many other illuminating emotions. Each emotion teaches us lessons about ourselves, and it causes us to continue to examine and search out meaning in our interactions. Without these attachments, how do we continue to grow?
However, rather than see this as a cold, calculated thing or as something selfish to be reminded of to avoid taking things personally, I'd prefer to see it as a lesson in our journey through life. People enter into our lives to learn from us and to teach things to us. There are always exchanges being made. This does not mean that we aren't motivated by love, however, or that even at the end of a relationship we can't continue to love that person we shared a temporary bond with.
The Buddhists talk about 'detachment.' They say that attachment leads to suffering, so you must learn to cut yourself free from your earthly desires.
But I'm not a Buddhist. To attach yourself to something does cause suffering, but it also causes joy as well as many other illuminating emotions. Each emotion teaches us lessons about ourselves, and it causes us to continue to examine and search out meaning in our interactions. Without these attachments, how do we continue to grow?