Friendship

Happy Saturday evening,

How is everyone doing on this amazing Saturday? I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Shoot me a text or drop me a comment, I’d love to hear from you. Also, if you haven’t yet subscribed to my blog, I sure would appreciate it if you would hit the like button and subscribe. Also drop me a comment, I’d love to hear what you not only think of my blog post, but I welcome any suggestion for future posts. What would you like to see me write about?

I’m really trying to grow my blog site and I will be making changes in the near future to my site. It’s time to get a little creative and I hope you will love those upcoming changes. Stay tuned.

Today was a good one. I got up early and walked the pups then my friends picked me up and we headed to a women’s club craft event where different crafters were selling their homemade items. After shopping, we headed over to Guadalajara for some yummy Mexican food. Chips and salsa were amazing and so were the carnitas enchilada’s, however, within a few hours I was throwing up. I’m not sick, it’s just something lately is going on with me and I’ve been throwing up quite often, especially at night when I go to bed. I’ll fall asleep for awhile, then I wake up and vomit. It really is quite annoying.

I am glad I got to hang out with some amazing ladies today. A little shopping, a little lunch and a lot of laughs. It’s always a nice day spending time with friends and I feel blessed to have such a wonderful core group of ladies to hang out with.

One thing that’s awesome about all my friends is that they are of different ages. Some are the same age as me, some a little younger and some a bit older. I even have some dear friends that are the same age as my mother and I love having them in my life because I don’t have a relationship with my mother, so these wonderful ladies make sure I am supported and cared about in a loving motherly way.

Over the last few days I’ve struggled with something regarding a new friend. Thank goodness I’ve been able to openly and honestly talk to John about what I’m feeling about this new friend that has come into my life. My friend is struggling with some pretty intense things right now and last night she told me that all she wants are friends who don’t run away when things get complicated and difficult. While it’s easy to say we would never do that, when faced with the issues that come into some folks lives, some of us perhaps think twice about how involved we can be or allow ourselves to become.

I’ve had to face this very issue this past week. At first I was very adamant that I was out. I got triggered with some memories of bad things that have happened in my life and I didn’t want to deal with facing my own fears nor this new friend of mines.

My struggle began when I stopped and thought about what this person is facing and the fact I had told her that I wouldn’t abandon our friendship when things got difficult. I told her I would be there for her.

I had the opportunity to talk to my friend last night and tell her what my fears were and I was fortunate that she chose to open up and explain things to me about the “drama” in her life. She trusted me enough to share things with me and I’m thankful she did. I can honestly say, I better understand not only her, but her situation.

My fear is still present, yet I know that things will be okay.

When I was struggling this week and talked to John, he listened to me, then he told me he would support whatever decision I chose to make regarding my new friendship. John also told me to take it to God in prayer and that’s just what I’ve done.

I asked God for guidance and direction. Then God showed me the way. He showed me where to find the answers to the questions I was struggling with. I was then reminded of the many blogs I’ve written where I tell you, my readers that whatever you are facing in life, you don’t have to ever feel like you’re alone because it is not only my desire, but my goal to have a platform where I encourage interaction amongst all my readers.

We often see ourselves in the stories of others and with that being said, I saw that the “drama” in my friends life was a trigger to some of the trauma I faced in my own life and those triggers, they still creep up once in awhile. God has reminded me that it is in my heart to support others when they feel alone. It’s my goal to be a friend to everyone even if I don’t agree with their choices in life. I don’t have to be close to everyone. I don’t have to associate with everyone, but, I can be a friend to everyone, especially those in need.

“Everyone needs a ‘no matter what friend,’ someone they can call no matter what. Someone they can vent to, no matter what. Someone they don’t have to explain themselves to, no matter what.”-unknown.

We all need that one friend who will be there for us and encourage us to do the hard things in life. We all need that one friend who will listen to us without judging. We all need that one friend who will tell us the truth no matter what. At times, those friends may be hard to come by.

One thing I’m certain of is that a true friend accepts who you are, but, they also help you become who you should be. This sometimes comes with kickback and it comes with having to hear things about ourselves that we don’t always like.

I can honestly tell you, I have not only true friends in my life, but I have my very best friend who is walking side by side with me through life. John tells me what I need to hear. He tells me the truth about myself, even when it’s not easy. He’s a true friend and he loves me.

“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”-Jon Katz.

This past week when I was ready to throw in the towel, God reminded me that I need to rethink that decision. If I were to throw in the towel it would go against the core of what I write about, the desire to help people who feel alone, the core beliefs I talk about, all those would be mere words without actions.

I truly believe God is giving me the opportunity to show Him that I truly do want to help people and I want more then anything to help them find Him.

I was reminded this week that none of us really knows what someone is truly going through because we haven’t walked in their shoes, not really anyway. We all share similar stories from time to time, thus we can generally see ourselves in one another’s stories. Sometimes we need to take a step back and pay attention to what someone is going through and if we just take a moment to reflect on our own lives, we can hopefully tap into our empathy that we have towards others. It’s there, but we sometimes squash it down deep. I think that’s why we need to try our best to remember that we all face difficulties and struggles and if we don’t, then it’s my opinion we aren’t really living life.

None of us are perfect. None of us are exempt from trials and tribulations and when we find ourselves facing adversities in life, wouldn’t it be nice to know we can call upon that one friend who will show us empathy, support and even tell us the truth about how they see the situation?

“Friends are people who know you really well and like you anyway.”-Greg Tamblyn.

When we are a true friend to others, it’s not about only being there when times are good. It’s not about being there only when we get something out of the relationship. It’s not even being there when it’s convenient. Being a friend, a true friend means we are there through the poop shows that come our way and that come there way.

Friendship is a two way street and though we are all guilty of forgetting that from time to time we need to try and remember, to be a friend means we walk through the storms together. We support one another through the good the bad and the ugly times.

One final note:

“Friendship takes work. Finding friends, nurturing friendships, scheduling face time, it all takes a tremendous amount of work. But it’s worth it. If you put in the effort, you’ll see the rewards of positive friends who will make your life extraordinary.”- Maya Angelou.

To have true friends, we first need to be a friend. When the going gets tough, true friends don’t get going, they do their best to support each other.

Well guys, that’s about all I have for tonight. Thank you for stopping by and until next time, don’t forget, Love Life++ Hugs.