Friends

A friend dropped by for coffee this morning and we discussed a few problem people in our lives. It turns out that some people have such unacceptable behaviour that they can never be close friends but that doesn't mean they can't be casual acquaintances.

The way I see it is that we meet someone new and consciously assess them as immediately unacceptable or as someone we'd like to know better. We base our judgement on whether or not the person has visible faults we can or can not live with.

As time goes on, we discover flaws in that person and the assessment goes on to either accept or decide to keep our distance. Since none of us are perfect there will be flaws but most will be a "so what!".

Lifelong friendships fascinate me because you can look at such a friend and see all the imperfections but love them anyway. Over time you have learned to weigh the good with the bad and as long as the bad isn't really horrible you can still be great friends.

The people I'm most comfortable with are those who are very open and not one thing on the outside and completely different on the inside. I know we all have an inner personality that we don't always show but it's usually just a slightly shadier version of what we present to the world.

My closest friends have probably seen me at my worst and still think I'm okay, just as I have them. We don't argue about it but just accept the differences as normal. Friendship can only become strong if we can accept those imperfections and not try to change them.

The same theory applies to family members. Some we want to be around all the time and a few we'd rather not run into but, if we do, we can be polite and have a good time. There will probably never be a person in your life that you dislike enough to not speak to unless you happen to be 6 years old.

I guess I got caught up on this tangent because of my early morning discussion but human behaviour is always interesting and it's fun to figure out why we do what we do. It tickles me that so many of us ladies in the park can chum around together constantly (more often even than friends back home) and never have an argument. We are all vastly different but seem to blend well when together and that's the key. Consideration!

You just have to be considerate of the feelings of your friends and relatives and sometimes that means going the extra mile. There's an old saying, "What goes around, comes around", and I believe that to be true.

Good family, good friends, good health, good food=good life.