The Apple Orchard: Friendship

The Apple Orchard

musings, chronicles, commentaries, bitchins & ramblins of a lost, but lovin 40 somethin year old soul...come take a bite

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Friendship

Read this in a friend's blog, thought I would share her words, what she had to say:

Friendship (according to Wikipedia): Friendship is a human relationship that involves mutual knowledge, esteem and affection. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of putting the other's interests before one's own. Their tastes will be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship.

Did you know that the less you associate with some people, the more your life improves? You know the people I mean - I'm sure you've had some of them in your life at one time or another - perhaps even now. Perhaps you may even BE one of those people. The people who are going nowhere with their lives; not doing anything to improve their situation; content to remain where they are; stagnant. Some of these people never have a positive thing to say about anyone or anything. Their lives are boring and mundane and they've resolved, whether consciously or sub-consciously, to accept their existence in it's current condition. They sometimes make excuses for this condition, attempting to explain their status in life. However, ultimately, they are still in the same situation they were in last year and the year before, still complaining about the same things.

Did you know that any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity? You've heard the phrase, "Birds of a feather flock together", and "One bad apple spoils the whole bunch". If you allow people into your life who exhibit mediocrity, stinking thinking and overall bad will, not only will others view you as possessing those same attributes, but eventually, those attributes will invade your thinking, your life, your spirit. Others will begin to avoid you – for the same reasons you should avoid the people who exhibit those traits. You may love them; you may care for them, but if you wish to move on, many times, you must let them go.

As you grow, hopefully your associates will change, or grow also, in their own way- unless you share common attributes. Sometimes, the worst enemy of friendships is change by one or both friends. Some of your friends will not want you to change – to move forward. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl, or become stagnant with them. And while you remain stagnant or continue to crawl, those same friends may begin to climb. Your friends will either stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this: You should never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves, are always first to tell you how (go figure). Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.

Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere. With some people you spend an evening; with others you invest it. Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life – your destination may be completely different from that of the person offering the direction.

"A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses."

As a friend, I am willing to "be there". I am willing to listen to you, to cry with you, to pray with you; I will laugh with you, and I will just be silent with you. I pray that I will uplift you and empower you. I will assist you, in whatever way I can, in becoming the best "you" that you can be. I will offer advice when I can, and if I believe that you are taking a wrong path, I will risk our friendship to let you know. If I cannot be a positive influence in your life, I will actively and progressively remove myself from your life - and that I will do, as a friend.

The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Is it time to re-evaluate??

My friends...u know who u are...I love u...thanks for being there for a chica when she was down and out...

posted by MsApples @ 7:05:00 PM

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