who is in your raft?

And still, the friendship spooled on and on, a long, swift river that had caught him in its slipstream and was carrying him along, taking him somewhere he couldn't see. - Hanya Yanagihara from A Little Life

Friendships make us grow and take us places we cannot foresee. Our friendships impact the quality of our life. Everyone loves quoting the idea about us all being the average of the five people we spend the most time with. I do not know how much I agree with the concept. From a habit standpoint, it makes sense. But at some level, we are who we are. And whether we were on an island or in a crowded city, we all have some core attributes. That being said, we are still deeply malleable to the people and things around us.

The quote above from A Little Life so elegantly describes how we get caught up in things we may not have otherwise due to our friends.

I think we share a figurative river with our best friends. Especially friend groups. It is like going rafting down the same river. You can recall the big rock coming up ahead on the left and the falls up on the right. There are eddies. There are rapids. Fallen trees. Cute otters. The river is full of life. Shared life that you all recall together. You have the past, the present, and the future together. Things get stored in your river. But the river is always changing and the friendship is always evolving as the individuals are unfolding. We can't stop a river from flowing, nor would we want to. It is normal to be nostalgic for the upstream parts of the river (past), but there are exciting times as we continue down the river (future).

If we drop our paddle it is okay because we have our friends in the raft to keep steering and moving us along. We don't need to kayak solo through life. When we have our best friends with us on the journey, the hiccups along the way turn into adventures and good stories.

Who is in your raft?