Reconnecting

Last night I had dinner with two dear friends that I have reconnected with recently.  It's not that we were ever truly "disconnected" but our relationships had come to crossroad and we were learning how to adapt to the new dynamics.  Long story, short...relationships change; whether you make it to the other side really depends on how strong it was in the first place. 

How does this relate to this blog???  Well, these two friends participated in my most recent weight loss challenge.  I was so nervous to bring them into this facet of my life; even though they were both very present and very involved in the stages of my transformation during the training for the Figure Competition.  Why nervous?  I'm not sure.  I guess I was afraid that they wouldn't enjoy the challenge, that they would be put off by it, maybe not appreciate my "tough love" approach, or maybe I felt vulnerable in that I was putting myself out there and afraid they would not like who they saw...  Who knows? 

So they participated in the challenge, one did exceptionally well and I'm THRILLED with the progress she's made and honored that I was able to be part of that.  Both of them have signed up for the next challenge as well, so I think they liked it!  Through the challenge, I saw their strengths, I saw their drive to improve themselves and I think they saw a glimpse of what my life has become through my own personal journey of health and fitness.  I say it time and time again; this wasn't 100% about a physical change for me, if anything it has been 80% mental/emotional growth and the 20% physical change was just the side effect. 

Showing up to dinner, was hard.  I was so anxious, worried we wouldn't have anything to talk about, or worse worried that old issues would creep into conversation; worried that we'd have nothing in common or worried that it was a wasted effort.  I could not have been more wrong.  These two ladies were my first friends in an early marriage and starting a family.  I've known them almost 10 years...there is a lot of love and a lot of memories built into that friendship and after 5 minutes of casual "hello" it turned into a couple hours of catching up and making plans moving forward.  I even got to chat into the night with one of them later and we just talked about how much we've missed each other and it felt really good for her to acknowledge the change in me.  These are women that I truly love.  I love their wits, their humor, their hearts...  I felt like a part of me opened back up.  I think that's how you know friendships are real.  Your heart just knows where to pick back up. 

What a great feeling waking up this morning and knowing that something you feared was gone...wasn't gone at all, it was just changing and I think moving forward, it will be stronger than ever!