We often, in spiritual community, speak of being with like-minded people.
The question becomes, “what makes someone a like-minded person?”
My definition may be different from other peoples or even yours. To me, “like minded people are those I can communicate with. We don’t communicate with everyone we speak with. We may speak to some. We may talk at them. We may react to something they say, but we don’t accept them as like minded. Why? Because they don’t have anything in common with us that we can agree upon.
Why is that? Maybe we are unwilling to really “hear” their point of view or ask why they have that point of view, or even to see beyond their point of view. Another possibility is that there is some common ground, as there usually is, but we haven’t dug deeply enough to find it. Maybe they pushed a button that doesn’t allow us in the moment to see a common point. You can revisit the conversation in the privacy of your own mind after you cool off, if you don’t burn the bridge.
Or, just maybe, you have grown so much or so far apart that there is no common ground anymore. Sometimes we just outgrow another. It’s not good or bad, it just is.
So, if you’re grieving the loss of a friend, just be sure your decision is a sound one, or don’t burn your bridges. True friends are hard to find.
