Friendship

Glorious morning

Today’s quote is from Socrates. Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher. 

“ There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend”

Friendship is a gift we get to carry around forever, although some friendships we acquire are temporary, others, if we are really living life correctly, will last a lifetime. I have been blessed with many friendships. Some of my friends date back to 9th grade and we still keep in contact and occasionally see each other.

Other friendships have not been so solid. Take for instance when we are in the school years. There were many friends I hung out with then that I have not seen in decades. I have heard the expression,  “ there are friends for a reason, friends for a season and friends for life.” I believe the friends that we encounter on our journey throughout our lives each have an important role to play and that’s to teach us to become better people, and visa versa. Just like our family members, they are our mirror. If we are open to learning, our friendships can really help us develop character and help deepen our capacity to love unconditionally.

Dogs are , in my opinion, an amazing example of unconditional love and are masters at friendship. With friends we get to practice patience and we get to practice holding space for each other when we are going through hard times while processing anger, grief or just plain weariness. We get to dump that stuff while they hold the light. A true friend is always there for us.

I recently had an experience where I needed to borrow a decent sum of money for an important project that would allow a family issue to move forward. I knew I could pay her back in the future but was not sure of the exact date. She didn't even hesitate . She got the money for me swiftly. Im sorry but not all friends you meet in life would do that, in fact, sometimes you can find out pretty quickly where your relationship stands just by asking them to borrow money lol, heck some family members won't lend money.

My point is , she cared for me enough to let go of her own money temporarily because I mean more to her than the money. The fact that she trusts in our friendship and knows I will pay her back also strengthens our bond. She is developing her generosity and trust and I am learning how to rely on others when I need some help and I am strengthening my word, which is to pay her back and our word is really our bond. In true friendship we get to grow and develop ourselves.

Sometimes we outgrow a friendship. Your vibe attracts your tribe so if one person in the friendship is diligently working on themselves and growing spiritually and the other is not, then a bit of a divide can happen, not because one is better and more grown than the other but just relationally speaking. Conversations would need to be sort of censored because the friend would not understand where you are coming from. You would no longer be able to express yourself freely for fear of either offending them or confusing them. One of my friends from middle school I would not mention the word reincarnation because I know it would make her feel uncomfortable. Although I love her, I prefer to be around the friends who are vibrating where I am and can have those conversations with no awkwardness. We tend to be around the friends we relate to the most.

My friendship abilities were really tested when I got divorced. I was very determined to remain friends when all was said and done. I am happy to report, I succeeded. I had a lot of accountability on my part that needed to happen ( and his ) and a lot of forgiveness to give out in order to achieve that. But that’s what friends are for. Just as much as we enjoy our friends' company, they are also here to test us and teach us to become better versions of ourselves. Thank you to all of my friends for the gift of friendship. Do you struggle maintaining friendships? Backpack therapy can help you pin point why. Make a free discovery call today. Peace be with you, Dawn

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