Everyone has heard the saying, or some variation regarding “on the fence” or “…side of the fence.”
This evening, I was thinking about something which happened to me. I was reminiscing about yesterday when I felt happy and sad and happy and sad – classic manic depression. I have fought this battle for years. I have a good handle on it. But this very evening, I told a good friend about it while texting at the local bar.
After our chat, I did some reading, and chatted with my friend who is the manager. I then remembered that I had to go to the washroom before I boarded the subway which brought me here. I had totally forgotten until I could forget no more.
I ran down to the washroom and while doing my thing, I thought to myself, so and so is such a good friend. I am so thankful to have a friend like her. It felt really good letting her know about my manic depressive feeling from yesterday.
I felt happy knowing that I have friends like her who I can confide in. They say it is good to talk about things which affect you. Just talking about them has an almost magical way of making things feel better.
I started to think about other friends and how I am glad that I have a friend like her who I can confide in, but that others may “be on the fence” about such topics. I then thought, it is best to speak to your friends. If you cannot speak to them because they might end up on a proverbial “fence”, then are they really your friends? How many so-called friends can lean on this imaginary fence until it collapses and no longer shields anybody from reality?