simply...not simple at all

I did a rare thing today - I left the office to take lunch. Usually, lunch is a slap-dash event, stuffed away at my desk as quickly as possible so that I can free my fingers to return to their incessant clicking on the keys.

But today, I left to meet a friend - and to eat Thai. We met at Simply Thai in Elon, a restaurant that comes highly recommended. And now that I've had the opportunity to partake in their lovely dishes, I would also extend my recommendation.

This friend is new. We were introduced a significant amount of time ago, but only through professional emails. And through the year, we've traded information back and forth as it was needed. But, now, we've been given the opportunity to share more of our lives with each other and to become friends.

And I treasure this - I treasure the ability and desire to meet new people and engage in their lives sincerely. To "make new friends and keep the old ones." I think it keeps me young. There's something about a surprise new friend that makes me feel like I'm a kid; like I am in 3rd grade waiting for the bus on the first day of school and some new kid in the neighborhood stands to wait with me. There's a sweet moment of shared existence, and even though we won't see each other at school or do, but have different friend-groups...we always have that moment together waiting for the bus and talking about our lives.

And this is my gift to me today on my journey of daily celebrations - to honor the simplicity of deciding to open myself up to a new life, a new spirit of influence. To keep the kidness about me as I share my experiences in the moments we have together. It's really a complex dance of give and take, of learning new rules and preferences; but definitely worth the treasure of calling someone friend.