Getting older. That's how it is.

There's a very important reason why you need to be happy with yourself and the life you have. Because as you get older, you spend more and more time with just that.

This isn't a post about how I'm tired of how people are growing apart or how friends become distant as they get older. Okay, it kind of is. Basically it's a post about how that's just how life is. It's not to offer a review or critcism of the quality of friendships as time goes on (i.e. people can grow apart and still remain close, as oxymoron-ic as that sounds). Rather, it just has become apparent that the amount you see people becomes less and less and how thus it becomes important that you find value in your own self and your own life.

People get married/get into relationships, people get busy jobs, people have other stuff they need to take care of. I used to wonder why my parents would only see/hang out with their friends every so often. I thought that was unusual. I realize now that it's the norm.

I have a couple friends who, and I really wish I had a different expression to use because this one really doesn't represent what I'm trying to say, I still see frequently. The truth is, it's not like anyone is consciously trying to not see one another. It's just that that's how it is. Because we have stuff to do.

I think the reason why i came to this understanding especially is because I recently got a new place. It has provided me with a black hole that sucks up all my free time. On weekends I'm either cleaning up, out buying something I need, or fixing something. By the time I'm finish I'm either too tired to want to do anything, or ready for bed. It's not that I don't want to go out. It's just that I got other shit to take care of. We just assume that we'll have time for fun later, but when later comes around, all you want to do is sleep.

Nevertheless, I think we all have a future to look forward to. A majority of time chilling by yourself. So you better love who you are, or you're gonna go bonkers. And let me be clear: we don't chill by ourselves because that's what we're striving for. It happens because we all have stuff to take care of. You want to chill and hang out, but life gets in the way. And not bad stuff. Just stuff.

The truth is, in my personal situation, we were all very different people to begin with. When you add in the fact that now all of us are in different places in life, moving in different directions, you get reality. And that reality is life is always changing and we can't all hang out anymore. I really don't see anything bad about this. This is how life is.

And when you get older and you retire, you're back to coming back to a place where everyone's lives become more similar. Kids are out of the house, don't have work to worry about, lots of free time. Maybe that's why when people get older they hang out with their friends a lot more.

And that's life.

(please note that I've said nothing about quality of life in this piece. I'm simply nothing the reasons behind why we become more isolate from others as we get older).