We, as humans, meet so many people throughout our lives. Some of these people you will love, some of these people you will hate, some of these people will be in your life for a long time, and some of these people will be in your life for a short time. Sometimes, people leave our lives when we do not want them to. This can be the most heart wrenching. However, I believe that our hearts always heal with time, and for that reason I believe it is important to be independent.
For a very long portion of my life, 3rd grade to 11th grade to be precise, I had a best friend named Morgan. We did everything together. I probably spent more nights of the week at her house than at my own. We went on vacation together every summer, and her family was like my own.
As Morgan and I got older things began to become different. We were involved in different school activities, we had different friends, and we did not have a whole lot of time to spend with each other. We may not have distanced ourselves on purpose, but it was clear things were not like they used to be. One day I decided to ask Morgan why we had not been as close. Her response killed me, she said, “Chad, you are just not the same anymore. You’ve changed so much.”
I felt like she was attacking me. I questioned myself, “Have I changed?” I asked myself this question over and over again for months. Morgan stopped spending time with me. I started sleeping at my house every night of the week. It got to a point where we stopped talking at all. Life felt dark and sad for a long time. I thought I would never get over the loss of my first best friend.
I had no choice but to start working on myself. I started worrying about what makes me happy, and got focused on my future. I finally graduated high school, and got accepted to Penn State University. I started healing and stopped feeling empty. Not only did I start healing, I felt that I was becoming an even better person than before I lost my best friend. I felt strong and powerful. If I could come overcome this obstacle, I felt like I could do anything.
From the day I lost my best friend on, I have had a different outlook on life. I feel I still have friendships as strong as the friendship I had with Morgan, but nobody will ever be able to hurt me like she did. I have learned to be independent and strong on my own. I will still continue to be good to others, but I will not change who I am for their happiness.
From this experience, I believe being independent and not relying on others for one’s own happiness.