The relationships I have fall into these categories...
They're dysfunctional
They're estranged (I am the only one in my family who is a Christian to my knowledge; my family sees no difference between religion and God, they view it as one and the same; they also 'compartmentalize' when it comes to God; it should only be one aspect and it should be swept under the rug with witnessing to people; to witness to others is seen as rude/inappropriate).
As a result of being the only one in my family who is a Christian that I know of, it makes it very difficult to relate to them. Even if they were saved (and I don't know if they are or not) we are polar opposites with personalities.
The 'friendships' I have are seem to be one-sided. If I don't initiate, then I basically don't hear from my friends; they are basically too busy with their lives to initiate and/or reciprocate with a phone/e-mail/text.
I have no issue with initiating in and of itself; however I thought a friendship was supposed to be give-and-take, and yet I see myself doing all the work. To me if they can't take 5 minutes out of their schedule to send an e-mail/phone call/text then it's like they don't care. I am also constantly hearing 'life is busy' like being busy basically justifies blowing somebody off; I get people have their own lives and I am not asking to monopolize their time. However I also know that if a friendship or relationship of any kind matters to you, you're going to make time for it and at least try to make an effort at it; neither really seem to be happening in the friendships I have.
I see people at my church, who have relationships that while aren't perfect by any means, they seem healthy and normal.
Why can't I get these types of relationships? I really can't relate to anybody my age; we are at completely different life stages. They are living on their own and married to the love of their life; most of them are raising families with this person too. They work full time jobs.
None of those things apply to me with where I'm currently at in my life. I get that we have the commonality of being Christians and we both worship, love serve the same God etc. However I have to more common ground than that with them, or it's going to be impossible to relate to them.
Source: animals-and-shamanism.blogspot.com