I've never purposely left anyone out of a situation before as I believe in inclusion. As a child, my mom was always encouraging me to reach out and include everyone especially those who were left out. This was both positive and not-so-positive for me. On the positive side, it helped me to be a person who easily accepted and included others, but on the not-so-positive side I didn't spend much time thinking about who I really liked and wanted to be with. Instead I saw myself as a helper more than a friend.
As I've grown older I realize that helping is an aspect of friendship, but good friendships are not made up of one helper and one recipient of the help. Instead good friendships are a give-and-take situation where both people help each other and share mutual interests. In fact, friendships suffer if one person is the "helper" all the time and the other is the recipient of that help. And when you consider good friendships, sometimes the friendship will be exclusive in some ways. You and a friend may share a special bond that only includes the two of you at times and no one else. You might actually leave people out sometimes, but you never want to do this in ways that are hurtful if possible.
No one likes to be left out, but there are limits to who people can include and this is especially true for occasions that have invitation limits due to space or other circumstances. Once you've faced those limitations yourself, it's a lot easier to accept the fact that you may be left off someone's invitation list for a birthday party, wedding, or other special event. This fact is especially true today in an age of social media where you stay connected to so many people over time.
In general, I don't want to leave people out, yet I realize there are times when that will happen to me and by me for all kinds of reasons. I'll think more on this topic in the days to come.
