My Revolving Door

Does it ever seem like people come in and out of your life as if there was a revolving door attached to you? Some will say it happens for a reason or that it is fate but sometimes it just makes no sense at all.

Here is an example. I have some friends that I made about ten years ago while living in the Chicago area. I did not live there that long but managed to make two friendships that I would say were more than just work friends. We would sometimes go to a local happy hour or shopping during our lunch. It seemed we had a lot in common at the time.

Well life moves on and so do we and I found myself back in New York City. I landed a gig with a company that helped people make websites and soon forgot my friends to the west. You know how that is, out of sight out of mind? In the beginning you keep in touch by phone then it is email and then it eventually becomes the annual Christmas Card. You don't mean it to happen but it just does.

Being back in New York enabled me to pick back up on my older friendships. I found that some moved to pursue their careers or for school, some went into the military and some were still living in the same place. It was as if I used my revolving door to lead me back to them. Familiarity is so nice. It makes you feel safe.

I lived in New York for another few years before transferring down to the Tampa Florida area. It was a promotion that I could not refuse. More money, better benefits and a great place by the beach. Time to bid farewell to my New York friends and take that revolving door to see where it would lead me next.

Tampa proved to be a great place to live. The weather was great all the time. People lived in small communities so that it was easy to congregate and have fun. The community I chose had a pool, hot tub, tennis courts and a playground for children. It was a well contained little section and I really loved living there.

I made quick friends and soon found myself with invitations to the beach or up to an Orlando Amusement Park. Life was pretty good. Of course, I tried to keep in touch as best as I could. Being in Florida made it a little easier as more people are likely to visit with you since you are near the fabulous beaches. Being close to Disney didn't hurt either.

After awhile I noticed that I was taking more time to respond to emails or return calls. After all there is only so much time in a day and I did have that revolving door in my life.Most times it was my boyfriends that used my revolving door. We would be together. We would break up. Then he went back through the revolving door and back in to my life. The door made it hard to change and hard to say no. It never seemed to stop revolving.

What helps me most these days is belonging to several social networking groups like

Myspace, Facebook and myLot. I was amazed that within a few minutes of joining I had friend requests from most of my old friends. My friends in Chicago, my friends in New York and my friends in Tampa. I think what I liked the most was that I could actually decline a friend invitation and keep the old boyfriends away! Did I finally find a way to stop the revolving door?