Friends and Love

I have had the good fortune to move around in the world. I have lived in Toronto, Kitchener, Edmonton, Drayton Valley, Ottawa and London, England.

The result of my nomadic existence is that I have cultivated friends in many places. I have found that friends come in all sizes and shapes. I have also found similarities in the extra special ones.

· Every time I meet with the friend, it is almost as if we have never parted. We just pick up where we left off regardless of the time apart.

· I can be myself totally. Usually that is pretty great, but there are times when I have trouble being with myself. My friends accept this and still welcome me.

· My friends are forgiving, very forgiving. I am far from perfect and I have a way of opening my mouth a bit too much. They look at my heart and believe that I would never purposely try to hurt them.

· My friends are eager to get news from me. When I call them on the phone, it reminds me of the greeting I get from my dogs when I come home. There is this instant joy.

· My friends live in glass houses, but not in the traditional sense. Their lives are open for me to see. They share the very essence of their being with me.

· My friends’ friends can easily become my friends.

· My friends amplify my love. What do I mean? All of my friends are in one pot. Think of it as a symphony orchestra. The love of my friends makes a sweet melody. They are all in the same room. Why? If the love for one friend is in another room, then I must leave lots of love to go to the other love.

· The fruit of my friends’ love is wonderful. They create more love. No love is lost with my friends. The result is not discord, hurt, pain or anger. Good things come from my friends. If the result of a friendship is bad things among your friends, it’s time to examine some of the relationships. Somebody is screwing it up.

I leave you today with a quote from Dr. John Trent, a best-selling author, popular speaker and founding president of StrongFamilies.com.
“I often talk about a verse in the Old Testament that sets a choice before each person, every day. That choice is "life or death, the blessing or the curse." The word "life" literally means "movement towards someone" while the word "death" means "stepping back into isolation, separation." In other words, we have a choice each day to step towards our loved ones and add "life" to our relationships -- or to step away and see our relationship start dying inside.”

My friends certainly make my life better.