Old Friends

Have you ever accidentally run into someone that you haven't seen in, well, forever? Maybe it was someone that you were never best friends with but have known most of your life or someone that you know from junior high and have occasionally kept up with. It could be that person that you always could count on for an invitation to any party and a quick hello even though you never were that tight. Sometimes these run-ins seem inconsequential and randomly irrelevant, but then there are other times when in just those few moments that you're with that person you are reminded of the who you used to be. It's as if the someone that you were in high school or junior high or even before that resurfaces. In their eyes you're that same overly zealous kid with an appetite for excitement and giggles to spare that was constantly being too loud or too silly. Maybe as you walk away you remember what it was like to be that person and you wonder if you still are. Questions might flood your mind and you quietly wonder if people look at you that way now. You might remember that you don't have to change; that being silly isn't bad and being enthusiastic isn't immature. In those moments of memories it's possible that you realize that growing up doesn't mean losing your "muchness" and having a career doesn't mean you have to stop being crazy. There's a chance you realize that being an adult doesn't mean you have to worry all the time! Sure, life is going to hit you hard and fast, but having responsibility doesn't mean you have to stop having fun; it doesn't mean you have to replace excitement with stress and faith with fear. Then, after all that realizing, you understand that the person, the old friend you haven't seen in a while, you've accidentally run into, was actually 

you.