Day 734 Friendship

 

A network of friends is essential in life, surround yourself with people who feel like sunshine and you'll never have a gray day. I happen to have an abundance, possibly more than my fair share of amazing folks surrounding me, pods of friends from various stages of my life. My friend Donna always says to be weary of a women with no friends, clearly not an issue with me. I suppose she's right, having friends signifies an ability to work through issues, support another human, listen when needed and of course, they give us a built in therapist who's on call 24/7. What do people without a network do, talk to themselves?? Being in our own heads might seem nice, no-one to disagree with us or point out another opinion, but don't expect any emotional growth either. Friends will challenge us, disagree with us when we're wrong, show us another opinion, support us...even when we're wrong and become a safety net for us when needed, catching us at times from ourselves. We learn the  importance of knowing  how and when to become a safety net for someone else... a skill only acquired with practice.  As I scrolled through my daily memories on my time-hop app, each picture showcased a memory of friendship, the one pictured is from a year ago at the Newport Officers Club and of course amazing friends. There was also had a photo of me, with black eyes from breaking my nose that immediately made me think of my friend Heather, who I called for help after my accident. She was at my door within minutes, drove me to the ER and stayed with me until I was all set. She later brought me a pint of my favorite flavor frozen yogurt, knowing I'd need something cold and soft to eat like ice cream but I'd also have the desire not to be fat. My friend CJ showed up with the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted, throwing calories to the wind.  I've probably said it a million times, how blessed I am to have the most amazing people in my life...but it's worth saying again! People without friends must walk around with the delusional belief that they are smarter than the rest of the world and with no-one to challenge them, it might seem nice....until you fall and break your nose or have something grand to celebrate! I adore Tim as much if not more than he adores me, but I'm thankful I'm not his only friend and I'm sure he's happy when I leave for a girls night. We have both been working so hard on the house, we are ready for a night out or two....maybe a date night then a night out with friends, to charge our friendship batteries. When I was little I had a poster that read: "a good friend knows all about you but likes you anyway". I'm self aware enough to know I'm not always easy, but thankful my friends allow me to be myself, taking the good with the bad and accept it all. I'm an acquired taste, not everyone's cup of tea at first but over time, if given the chance, I can also be a pretty darn good friend.