Friday, April 1, 2011

April 1: Be a Friend

It's funny the way our friendships change over time.  My first friend, no doubt, was a toddler.  I've no idea who it may have been, but we were likely joined by similar interests such as drooling or putting things into our mouths.  As I got older, my friendships became a little deeper, based on things like common values, shared memories, mutual respect, compassion, and loyalty.  It's strange how sometimes we can get so close to someone, we think they'll be in our lives forever.  But that isn't always the case.  
     And while we can be uplifted and gain a lot from our friendships, we can be hurt by them too.  Sometimes it can be hard to forgive or to let that person back into our lives, or to open our lives up to new people.  There's always a 50/50 chance they'll hurt us too.  We don't want to be made a fool of.  True friends will know our most embarrassing secrets, our worst qualities, our terrible weaknesses.  And while we can't control what they will do with all that power, we can control what we will do with the power they give us.  We can decide to be loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, and supportive of them.  If we are lucky, they'll do the same for us.


Real friends are those who, when you feel you've made a fool of yourself, don't feel you've done a permanent job.  ~Author Unknown

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