can i call you back in fifteen years?

real simple speaks to me again.

it's this same feature that gets me every time - the life lessons.

this month, it's an article called can i call you back in fifteen years? miss kristin, the editor of real simple - a wildly busy woman, i'm sure - struck all sorts of chords with me. it's more mention of "what no one told me about being an adult" and "what they missed in the adulthood 101 manual..." i think the heavens are trying to tell me something. maybe it's screaming "it's time to grow up, aubry" or "if you're reading this magazine, you're a grown up by now, so embrace it, already!"

life lesson no. 1 about being an adult?

friendship is a choice.

i'll try to be delicate - but, i mean, when have i ever been known to speak delicately?

thesis:

maintaining a caliber of friendship that is at all worth our while among our severely over programmed lives requires constant attention. it also requires an aggressive pruning now and again. finding the fine line to balance is tricky and must be handled with care.

not enough pruning and we're left with piles of insufficient funds notices coming from the "me time" bank account. not healthy.

too much pruning and someday... when we slow down, realize the world can carry on without our feverish efforts, and when we quit trying to prove to the world that we are the most valuable contributors to the universe, we will be retired old people, wishing we had friends to dine with at the country club.

and so, the dilemma.

for now, i keep my dear ones close. i invest in the high yield, mutually beneficial relationships. i do what feels best and remember a happy me is the common denominator to it all. and i live by one rule - if you have to yell, scream, harass, remind, or beg to be my friend, it's not worth it.

should i have been more delicate?