Mistakes I Don't Want To Repeat in 2009

As the new year begins, I am prone to mull over the year gone by. I am the kind of gal who likes to make new mistakes, not the same ones over and over again. To avoid the same mistakes I look over the past year and try to pick out what mistakes I'd like to avoid in the new year. I'm going to try and post one every day this week or as long as I have mistakes to examine.

Mistake #1 - Never underestimate the value of friendship.
I've never really been one to have many friends. I learned early in life that people who are close to your heart are just people with more power to hurt you. So, my solution, easy...don't make friends. Have acquaintances but never friends. I understand that this would be a whole lifetime of making this mistake, but let's not get hung up on technicalities, life is too short. (That's mistake #2)
While it is true you don't risk wounds from friends if you don't have friends, what you do risk is incredibly astounding.
Here are the risks:
Lack of advice from a friend who cares and sees your life from a different perspective.
Lack of someone to have dinner with on a whim.
Lack of someone to call as a diversion when you're obsessing over life issues and really just need to stop.
Lack of someone to ask how that last test you just had done went.
Lack of someone who'll smile at you for no reason at all.
Lack of someone to give you a random hug.
Lack of someone to ask to pray for your current situation.
Lack of someone to witness your faith journey and testify how good God has been in your life.

Sure friends hurts you sometimes, but in all fairness the hurt often goes both ways. In a society where technology is a great excuse to keep depth of relationship 2 feet deep and yet give the illusion of 8 foot depth, we must fight ever fiercely to keep our friends close. And for those of us just starting out, we'll wade into the 2 foot deep pool and brave into the open waters of friendship. We'll face the waves of hurt, misunderstanding, fear, insecurity, and laziness (for me at least) and all the while remember that we can never underestimate the value of true friendship.