Women - Part 2

In life, the only kind of friend you will have is the kind you are willing to be. Anybody can stick around for the good times - that's EASY. True friends are those who remain your friends through the bad times too ... But if you abandon ship at the first sign of trouble and refuse to ride it out and support your friend in need until the storm passes, you will miss out on the joy that can only come from a long-term friendship. You will grow older and realize that there are very few people in your life who have been there for the long haul, because you discarded those who might have been. As we get older, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to meet new people, and once we're in our later years, it's a mathematical impossibility to make a new friend who will be in your life for more than a relatively brief time. In life, it's quality that counts, not quantity, and it is far better to have had a dozen truly close and enduring friendships in a lifetime than thousands of relationships that came and went.


Friendship and marriage have much in common. Like marriage, friendship is a voluntary relationship. And there is a reason the words "for better or for worse" were written into the marriage vows - marriage is a specialized form of friendship. Two people who are not friends with each other cannot make a successful marriage. And, as with marriage, people who expect friendships to be free of pain or strife are deluding themselves.

Life is a balance of both good and bad on the cellular level. It is unrealistic to expect people to be perfect. We’re all imperfect, to varying degrees; we all have faults, they’re just different from one another’s. This should be common knowledge, but apparently it isn't because it's astounding how many people let friendships die over pettiness. These folks toss away friends as though they grow on trees. Their expectations are completely outside the realm of possibility, and they are begging to be disappointed. Not surprisingly, they always are.

This isn't about so-called "friends" who have exhibited malicious behavior but, rather, genuine friends who are experiencing the normal ups and downs of life - for example, someone who is going through a rough patch and needs emotional support and understanding. Not all of us are natural nurturers - we can't be all things to all people - but that doesn't mean we cease being the person's friend because he or she has become "too depressing" to be around. If that person wasn't always that way - and he or she most likely wasn't, otherwise you wouldn't have made him or her your friend to begin with - then take it for what it is and understand that it's only temporary. Are you thinking of dropping a particular friend because she says things you don't agree with or doesn't share your viewpoint on certain topics? If so, do you realize that you are, in effect, denying that person's individuality - the same thing that drew you to her to start with? Do you find yourself turned off by a friend's personality traits - his or her quirks? As long as your friend isn’t being nasty to you or doing anything to harm you, don’t let those quirks come between you because we all have them. Don’t forget, your friends accept you for who you are - you must accept them in the same way. You literally do have to take the bad with the good; this isn’t just a cliché. Most people over the age of 20 have issues, or baggage, however one wants to put it - it’s called Life. Those who appear to be baggage-free just have better PR than the others.
*Essay I found on the internet