At What Cost?

At what cost? We keep our mouths closed when we want to say things because the cost-benefit analysis tells us that some things need not be said; that the mere uttering of extra words will cause the cost of those words to be unfathomable. But we do open our mouths sometimes. We do speak our minds. Because the cost of keeping something inside often turns into a stress that the heart feels heavy; the breath can notice under a tightened chest. Pounding headache. At what cost is friendship no longer friendship?

In the past, what have been the reasons for casting off friends? People say that they, "Grow apart." It happens. Seeking different experiences and wanting different things can strain the best of friends. Personalities. I'm ever so mellow on one day and wound as tightly as possible with expectations on another. How then, is anyone supposed to know how to be friends with me? And is there really a "how-to-be" a friend primer somewhere? I probably approach each of my friends the same way, but I obviously react differently to their different ways. I become closer to some people than others. Some can be trusted more than others. Some are worth more? Worth Less? How cold to put a worth to a person, but how true to life in our judgments. There are definitely people that we would drive the extra mile for over others. It may not be a simple value equation, but it exists.

So here I am at the bank. What am I cashing in?