Fake Friends

Life is too short for

Fake Butter,

Fake Cheese,

Or Fake Friends.

For a long time, I did not know how to make friends.  I tried to belong.  I tried to be a good friend, but I really did not know how friendship was supposed to be a give and take opportunity.  I did most of the giving, and not too much of the receiving.  As a consequence, rather than getting my feelings hurt all the time, I chose not try and have too many people around me.  

I learned to make friends after my feelings got hurt way too many times.  I learned how to make lasting friends.  I learned that real friends are there for you, no matter what, even if you are in a place in your life that makes you not as available as you should be.  I learned that real friends are willing to talk when you need them to talk and listen when you need them to listen.  

I learned that friends accept you, with all your faults and baggage and that they choose to overlook those things that you don't want pointed out.  They also can choose to tell you the things that you couldn't handle hearing from anyone else.   Most of all, I have learned that being a good friend takes work, but it is so worth the effort.  It means sometimes you give, and sometimes you take and sometimes you just lean and love together.  

There is nothing in life quite like a real friend.  

As for fake butter and cheese, well, I think those speak for themselves!  I happen to love the real in life.  I love what I am learning to be and I love those who are willing to walk this journey with me.