His Perspective

Today I had a long overdue phone call with a dear friend. We’ve been promising to talk for months, only to have life get in the way. We’ve been “catching up “ via text which really isn’t catching up.. it’s more like bullet points of an essay. One thing I really adore about him is we can pick right up where we left off and never feel like there was a “break”. I’ve known him for sometime and have always really enjoyed him. He’s very smart, extremely funny.. I’ve been in tears many times from laughter while talking with him. He is very straight forward, but one of the nicest guys you’ll ever know. I really enjoy my conversations with him because I vent, laugh, cry and learn and come away feeling better about so many things. He’s a world traveler and brings a perspective that I don’t always get elsewhere.

I love having a variety of friends who bring different life experiences and perspectives to our friendship. This friendship brings me both that I don’t get elsewhere and I deeply value that. While he doesn’t have children, he has extended family members who are autistic,and he is directly involved in their lives, so he can add thoughts, views and ideas that I don’t get elsewhere. He sees the “forest through the trees” but brings it having a direct connection to Autism.

Todays conversation didn’t disappoint, we not only caught up, we made plans for the future. There are times I feel like I’ve hit a wall with AwesomismMom, not that I can’t break down those walls.. but I need  a “sledgehammer perspective” from others who aren’t necessarily directly involved. It’s nice to get feedback on my blogs, thoughts, goals and direction for AwesomismMom. He was very encouraging today, as well as brought some awesome thoughts. I enjoyed hearing his perspective not only on my blogs, but also on how he sees the other side, from many of us who live every day with an autistic child. I think sometimes I get so caught up in the day to day of AwesomismMom and trying to make a positive impact, I tend to overlook ideas that can bring about my end goal. My ultimate dream is to be a positive network in many ways for autistic teens and adults. I have a plan… although I don’t share it with many… I work every day to achieve the goals I have set. I go through many ideas daily to help me try to achieve mine and Peyton goal of Turning Autism into Awesomism. I know what my end goal is… what I struggle with is how to get there. My conversation today was awesome because he doesn’t offer advice how to get there… he offers perspectives on why my end goal is so important.

I came away from our call energetic, as well a new vision of how I need to achieve my end goal.  Friendships are give and take and sometimes the person doing the giving may not even realize how much they actually gave. I know my friend reads my blog and I know when he reads this he will realize this is about him. I’m thankful for his friendship, but more importantly I’m thankful for his perspective! Sending him a big hug!