The Weight of Overlooked Value

My friend has been lamenting over the loss of her seven-year friendship. At first, I was sad for her and even planned to do something to help apologize and bring the person back into her life. But after she came clean to me, I got angry. "If truly this is what you did to another human being, then you don't deserve to be in her life."

According to her, the lady was all she always wanted in a friend. And she was always there for her. She thought that, in the end, it was just going to be both of them, so whatever she was doing didn't matter.

She didn't think it was necessary to change because the lady has been putting up with her awkward behavior from the very first day they met. Even on the lady’s birthdays, I normally see her writing things like “thank you for taking me as I am”. And I always can’t help but think that why can’t you just be better? Well, of course, she knew what she had, and she confirmed that she was one of the best friends she’s ever had.

If we're being honest, she's not the only person in this type of situation. Most of us have the best of friends and we treat them poorly in ways we wouldn't want to be treated. And we know that they are actually the best we could actually find, but we continue anyway, because we think that they'll always be there for us, forever.

People say you don't know what you have until you lose it. But what if people actually knew what they had but never thought they would lose it? So you overlook it. Just think about it.

In all you do, remember that they are as human as you are. Would you like to be treated the way you do others? It's a thought that should guide our interactions and actions towards people around us, expecially the ones we claim we love. You already know what you have, so act like you value it.