What about your Friends?

Part of the fun of joining this site was the thought of knowing my friends would be sharing in the experience. So far, my “community” is very limited. Is this the way everyone starts out? Am I expecting too much out of my friends by inviting them to share their thoughts as well? Why all of the sudden do I feel like Carrie Bradshaw as I type these questions? See, I knew there was something weird about typing my thoughts, dammit. I love learning about my friends. I take friendships very seriously. Sometimes too seriously. Nevertheless, that’s how I am and for the most part I like that about myself. It’s interesting sometimes when I meet someone who is just floored by how thoughtful I can be. It’s sad when I see how much other people are not like that. Unfortunately this seems to be the case more so here in Los Angeles. I look at it as friends, unlike family, are people we choose to have in our lives. We should keep that in mind and use that to our advantage. As my cousin nicely puts it, “cut the fat” when it’s necessary. There’s no reason to keep people in your life who are not worthy of having you in theirs. I’ve always lived by this and it’s made life much more gratifying, especially at times when you need to lean a little on those around you. Another reason I find that I don’t want lousy people around is, as another friend once wisely said, “your friends are your board of directors”. She went on to explain that whenever she meets someone she likes, she really pays close attention to that person’s friends. Friends are a reflection of you. If you have loser people around you, what does that say about you? Also, how well established are your friendships? Do you have people in your life who have been there for a number of years? Do you still have any friends you grew up with? And lastly, are some of your friends co-workers or neighbors? Are you the same person in your home and work life to the point that you can integrate your friends into both areas? These are all things that I try to adhere to when establishing and maintaining my friendships. In return, I try to make sure my friends know they are appreciated in any way I can. We all have enough stuff going on in our lives that keeps us busy and at times causes stress. To me, there should be no reason to add to that by having people around who don’t need to be. Just my thoughts for today. Ho hum, when are my friends going to join me on this site? I’ll just sit here patiently and swing my legs from my chair while I wait… Are you there yet?