It is now approximately 45 days till I leave for college. This has made me start to think about things that I wouldn’t normally consider. Like how I’m going to be separating from so many people I’ve had strong relationships with for a long time. Friends I’m used to seeing almost everyday I now will be seeing a few times a year. And it makes me reevaluate my time spent with them. I often take time for granted and fail to realize how limited it really is. But more than that, it makes me wonder how I affected them and what influence I had on them. This is something I’d never really thought about before now. As I went through school, I guess subconsciously I was thinking how school, academics, and how what I was being taught affected me. Sometimes I thought about my friends’ influences on me, but never did I think about what kind of impact I had on them. Was it for the better? I definitely hope so. Was I encouraging? What kind of example was I? Did I love them the way I was supposed to? Did I influence them for good or for bad? Whatever the case may be, the time God gave me to determine the answers to these questions is for the most part over. Granted, I can still have an affect on my friends from high school, but my ability to do so is severely limited compared to before. It hurts to think that I won’t be able to talk to them every day and see them and spend time with them. Its summer break so obviously I’m not seeming them everyday right now. But in the past summer break has ended, school has started once more and I’m surrounded by the friends I love and can enjoy being with them for another 9 months. But this year I’m not afforded that luxury. When the school year starts I’ll be with strangers, hundreds of miles from my friends having to start over again. But its not the end of the world. Its not like I’ll never see them again. But now I’ll have to make an effort to talk to the friends I used to see everyday. Life’s changing. Its part of growing up and moving out. And I have to face the fact that the life I had, is no longer the reality I’m living. I regret having taken time for granted and not having enjoyed all the time I had been given. Regrets are not fun things to live with. Its best to have as few as possible. And the best way to do this is to learn from your mistakes and not make them again. Its said that hind sight is always 20-20. And I believe in this situation that is fairly accurate. But I don’t intend to leave my hind sight behind me. I’m going to project it into the future and do my best not to do the same thing again. For its never any fun to stub your toe on the same piece of furniture every night. Only a fool would fail to memorize the layout of a room, after having suffered the consequences once before. And I don’t intend to be a fool...well, in this case at least :) So, as I enter my freshman year of college I intend to do a better job of enjoying everyday I spend with friends. I intend to make a more concerted effort to be an encouragement and a good influence on others. And to love them more as Jesus would. Because we’re only given one life. Theres no point in wasting it. Especially when it doesn’t even belong to me.