This past Wednesday, I was asked to take some papers to various stores in the Georgiana area.

I felt like this was not a problem and headed out.

When I finished delivering all of the papers in the metro Georgiana area, I had one bundle left that was destined for the Friendship community.

Little did I know that my afternoon of driving

could mirror life so well.

To begin with, in my whole life I had never been to Friendship.

I thought I had a general idea of where it was located, but once I got to that point, I found I was terribly wrong.

I turned left and then right, back tracked and turned left and then right and then left again.

Suddenly, I found myself quite turned around with little idea of where I was anymore.

The signs said Butler County, but there seemed to be no houses.

Finally, I got a cell signal and called the Butler County Sheriff's Office to ask the sheriff for directions.

A kind deputy talked me back to safety and I finished my appointed tasks.

As I went to leave the little BP station, I asked the kind lady which was the quickest way back to Greenville.

Turns out, I simply took a road called the McKenzie Grade and it brought me back to Halso Mill Road.

Imagine that.

So close but yet so far.

When I got home, I thought about my little adventure and it struck me funny that I got lost looking for Friendship.

How often in life do you have to take assessment of who your friends are?

It sounds trite, doesn't it? Sadly, yes – and yet all too true: small shifts in attitude can wind up causing major, life-changing movements.

Sometimes in your search for people with like interests, you must do a complete reconstruction of the landscape of your friendships.

Sometimes in your friendships you decide to quit being the friend on standby and expect a more substantive return on your investment in other people.

Sometimes you need something back from your friends other than the companionship they provide when it is convenient for all of you to get together.

In other words, sometimes you have to stop trying to run your life (or the lives of others) and start trying to live it.

So instead of feeling lost in friendship, I guess I want to know that my friends and I are on a more equal degree.

Friendships are a personal thing. We have to remember their value and that sometimes they are the most fragile relationships.

Small personal changes can have a great, and sometimes unanticipated, impact – for the worse, or for the better. Friendships take mutual effort to keep them alive and healthy, even as they change and evolve.

I have learned that it is okay for friendships to change or evolve.

Sometimes they evolve to a different level for the good and sometimes for the bad.

But the thing is, it is up to you and me to throw the dice on our friendships.

Sometimes you find that you are on the right track, and sometimes, you realize you are lost looking for friendship.

That is when you ask for help to find your way home.