Be thou humble

Today marks the loss of another friend. No one died but a friendship has been altered and closed forever. There will still be contact, though strained. There will still be run ins, though uncomfortable. It's breaks something inside when those you let in so close to your core cannot abide that space anymore. It slams shut the open flow of joy and peace that interweaves the strands of two separate people. It is death and it throbs. You stand looking at one another talking with the expectations that what you are saying will penetrate because this one knows you, your intricate way of thinking, the true meaning behind your intent. You blink at the first blow and shake it off knowing nothing could possibly be meant by those words. Trying again, you state your meaning more clearly but are met with rising anger that stings as you stand back to see what is going wrong. It does not become more clear but is clouded by a void that keeps growing with each attempt. As the viciousness escalates you simply resign, and the aching begins with the loss that cannot be mended.

When approached about a wrong doing it might be worth it to simply acknowledge the wrong and apologize. I have never gone wrong with that approach. It is even more freeing than the anger that we hold on to trying to cover our guilt from the wrong we committed. That feeling chokes out the calm and collected side which should preside between friends. It swallows it whole and like a poison starts infecting our actions and words. We start to defend and try to protect that "wrong" because we think facing it would kill us. Facing anything with truth cannot kill you. It simply strengthens the best part of you. It whittles away the proud façade and creates a humility that will topple the largest stumbling block dropped in your path. It stops the ache before it starts. It keeps them in your core for just one more day.