I have always considered myself a friendly person. Someone who can befriend anyone. You don't have to run in the same circles as me to be my friend. You don't have to have a lot in common with me to be my friend. In fact the more different you are, the more interesting I find you. Thanks to the internet there is also a whole range of social media in which we could connect and form all sorts of different friendships. You don't have to be like minded or think in a similar way to me. I enjoy conversation and a healthy debate. A little argumentitive banter is always good, as long as we realise at the end of it all that we can agree to disagree. I guess what I'm trying to say in a round about way is that we are all different (no surprise there) and that we should celebrate our differences-> ooh a very politically correct statement! I personally would find life very boring if we all thought and acted the same. Yes it's nice when people agree with you on an issue, but I find it far more exciting to meet someone who can look at a situation from a totally different perspective. I love meeting new people and learning about their life experiences. Yes sometimes that means I open myself up to being friendly with people who may, to an outside observer seem an unlikely companion, but hey that's me! (that's how I roll) My mom used to say: "this is my daughter Karen, she can talk to a stone" My first 4 years in school all my reports ended with "Karen is a chatterbox". I guess this was partly due to the fact that I was an only child until the age of 10 and desperately wanted a sibling to rival with. However having said that I like befriending all kinds of people I have realised recently that this also allows me to invite some not so savoury characters into my life. I also realised that people judge you by the company you keep. It is a sad but true fact that, if the company you keep is good, people will try and find your weak spot and focus on that. If the company you keep is bad, you will inevitably get tarred with the same brush and be perceived as equally vile, no matter how innocent that relationship is to you. So Sometimes in life we have to step back from what comes naturally to us and say: Is this good for me? is this friendship harmful to my well being or my families well being? and if the answer is yes, well then there is a tough choice to be made.
Yep, you're a chatterbox :-)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if relationships are constructive- they can be intellectually challenging, but not helpful... Friendship should, in theory, be a mutual relationship.
For all of our good intentions, there are some messed up people out there. (Not excluding myself from that). It's ok to offer friendship, but maybe be careful what is offered in return.xxx
There's something to be said for being a social butterfly. It's fun and I've always wanted to be one... but I still find it unsatisfying.
ReplyDeleteFinding friendships with people on a deeper, more intimate level is something that I now aim for.
I dont think it's necessary to judge people as simply good/bad. Everyone is going through their own life story. But some people are not good for you at certain times. It's a brave step to walk away from those people to save yourself.