I read somewhere that if you have fifty friends, you don’t have enough, but if you have one enemy, you have too many. My experience was the latter.
I ate her food. She tore up my pictures. I cut up her clothes. She put bleach in my baby oil. And that was just the beginning.
Last week, I was sitting next to my favorite enemy-my roommate during my sophomore and junior year. That day I learned the amazing impact of forgiveness in people’s lives.
We were friends at first. We met in the dorms and eventually became inseparable. We thought that by moving in with each after freshman year, we would be the talk of Tallahassee. Instead, we became each other’s fuel for fury.
We were in church. I was looking straight ahead, as if I was actually listening to the message, but I had other thoughts inside.
I could not believe that we were there; surprisingly we had come together.
I will admit, I thought twice before agreeing to spend the evening with her. Some friends of mine even questioned my judgment. “Why are you wasting your time talking to her? Look at all the drama the two of you went through.”
Luckily, I’ve learned to take people’s advice as suggestion rather than law. This time, I had to use my own mind. I chose to grow in my commitment to love others and enjoy life. So last week I made the first step to a new beginning and celebrated it with my “friend.”
When we hold on to past pain, hardship, and regret, it is like taking two steps backward while watching the world move forward. You and misery sit side by side, but when you diminish, it just moves on and sits beside someone else.
Last week, the two of us went out. We laughed. We talked. Maybe we will do it again.
Tiffany Pitts, 23, is a senior public relations student from Jacksonville. She is The Famuan’s Lifestyles editor. Contact her at pittstiffany@hotmail.com.