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Enjoy your stay Thanx for visiting |
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Enjoy your stay Thanx for visiting |
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~ Good Friends ~
There are nice things in your life that you can buy and acquire as you journey through the years; but then there are your friends. Some will stay with you through thick and thin and others will come and go. It's a privilege to have good friends in your life and it's important that you never be confused with the difference between having friends and being friends. The two ideas go hand in hand but they are very different.
To have good friends means being a good friend in return. It means being unselfish with your time and lending a hand or your heart or just your presence when they want you or need you. It means being available when timing makes things inconvenient. It means giving advice when called on or just listening to what they have to say. It is a love for their company and the sense of making a difference in each other's lives. It doesn't matter how often or how long each get-together is. It is the fact that you enjoy spending time together and it makes your life just a little bit more fun and a little bit more rewarding. It's definitely time well spent regardless of the circumstances.
I'm very lucky that I have a few good friends that have been by my side for a number of years. I have seen them struggle with careers, lovers, marriage and divorce, raising children and the day-to-day routine of trying to cope. They have taught me many lessons about life because of what I have witnessed in their own experiences. In many ways I have lived through their pain and their joy as if it were my own. I have spent many nights talking with different friends about nothing more than the experience of being human. The time spent together is soothing, comforting and gives me a sense of belonging and self-worth.
The beauty of friendship is that you will probably learn something new every time you see them. It may be a subtle thought, a new experience, a new dream or sharing a dark secret. It doesn't have to be anything monumental, just different to what you already know about them. That's what makes them interesting.
People say that you can never have too many friends. Well, I believe you can focus on too many people at any one time. Not that this is a bad thing, but it does have its drawbacks. Every individual has their own threshold of community and dependence which dictates how many friends they can comfortably deal with. My own experience has taught me to stay in contact with my closest friends at least once a week and to try and visit them at least once or twice a month. It may not seem often enough for some people but that's my comfort zone.
I have learned that it isn't necessarily the number of times you see your friends, it's the quality of the time you spend with them that makes the difference. I would rather spend a nice long leisurely afternoon and evening with friends once a month, rather than a one-hour visit every other day. That is my style and preference and oddly enough, most of my friends prefer it this way as well. Most of the time, a visit involves food. I've been rather impressed with the quality of cuisine out there. Some of my friends are amazing gourmets and I jump at the chance to be invited over to their place for dinner.
Dinner invitations usually revolve around a trade-off of services. I am lucky that I am handy and quite good at renovation projects around the home. Many visits include painting or wall-papering or plaster work or plumbing repairs around their home. I provide the service and they feed me. The barter system is alive and well with my circle of friends and the beauty of it is that no-one feels quilty or taken advantage of. I like volunteering my services and they like cooking. One of the things I have discovered is that you end up becoming a little dependent on each other and that helps strengthen the friendship even further. The beauty of the barter system is that it's totally voluntary and you both come out ahead.
For the most part, it doesn't matter why you get together with friends as long as you do get together. When you think about it, any excuse will do.
Pure and simple...
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- This Storyworx page updated May 10th, 1998 -