Relationships; they make up every aspect of our life, and we have one with everyone we meet. Our friends, parents, partners, and even strangers on the street have some sort of relationship with us. When we were younger, relationships, no matter the type, were taken for granted. We didn't see people for who they were, or for the effect that they had on us as people. As we grow old, and as time speeds by at speeds that are unfathomable, we begin to watch our relationships morph into mature entities that we wouldn't have necessarily understood just a few years ago.
Take childhood friendships for an example. As kids, friends were people to play with at recess, eat with at lunch, and have over from time to time for sleepovers that would amount to nothing more than late night gossip about who "liked who" on the playground. There was not much depth to friendships at a younger age. Perhaps it's because while we are young, we lack depth ourselves. Even through middle school, and maybe even through high school, friends who seemed to be the most monumental and important were still just a companion to fill space. Your best friend a while you are young seems to be the epitome of what friendship is. However, as we grow up, we begin to see the deeper meaning of friendships. Friends as you get older are still the companions that we once had, but the meaning of your relationship is changed permanently. Not only are they the company you keep over dinner, they are also the ones you rely on for support while going through a hard time. They are the ones you spend hours talking to about hardships, questions, and life matters that could have a long lasting effects on life. Friends are no longer the one dimensional people that were once part of our lives, they are now the cornerstone of your life; they are the family that are chosen.
Along with our friends, our actual romantic relationships have changed as we step into college and the real world. Gone are the days of innocent hand holding and awkward note exchanges. While young, "romantic" relationships were just as one dimensional as our friendships; they were taken lightly, something that may have seem serious, but in retrospect, they were minuscule in the grand scheme of things. As we get older, relationships begin to take on a more serious note, one of either total commitment or eventual failure. They are heavier, more complicated and potentially more harmful, but all the while they are more rewarding. Romantic relationships change dramatically as the years pass; they become less of a game and more of an actual part of life, and a potential lifetime commitment.
Relationships with parents are constantly morphing as we grow older. While young they were the largest influence in life; whether good or bad. They told us "yes" or "no," guided us, rewarded us, or showed us the consequences of our actions. They were our mentors, and they loved us even through our rebellious years as angst-filled pre-teens. As we reached college and began our own lives, however, they began to let us go. They are no longer telling us if we can or can't do something, they are no longer the ruling force in our life. Our parents let us go, and as we grow older, they begin to step back and admire us as the grown adults that we are, rather than the young rambunctious child they used to tuck into bed at night. As we grow older, we begin to see our parents with a different, mutual respect and appreciation for the impact they had upon our lives.
Relationships go so much farther than the people that we know personally and interact with daily. The relationship that we keep with the strangers that we pass on the street changes as we grow up just as much as the relationships with our friends or parents. As kids, the faces of strangers held little meaning; they were practically invisible to our innocent eyes. But as we grew up, we began to become more aware of the world. We become aware of the troubled look on a stranger's face, and we start to wonder about the life they lead. We may pass by someone who looks overjoyed, and we wonder what good news they have received. As we grow up, we begin to humanize the strangers that we see, and begin to recognize that they have individual lives that give them stories that are completely unique from any other life. As we grew up, we began to compare these strangers to ourselves. We finally learn that we will never know what struggles they face, and we finally learn how much a warm smile can impact a stranger.
Each person has experienced a relationship in their life, and each of us, after some thought, can recognize how much relationships have changed now that we are "grown up" now that we are in college. No matter your life experience, it is easy to say that as we age, our relationships take on a new meaning. They become deeper, more meaningful; and the relationships that we forge now will have a long lasting and beautiful impact on us, an impact that we could have never imagined as children.
