March 31, 2025 Looking for Friendship
“Friends are the family you choose." - Jess C. Scott
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Listen to this meditation on audio:
Don't get it twisted. True Friends don't throw shade.
True Friends don't ghost you. Could it be that many of our young people today are confused about what a friend is? Friending you or liking you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok has absolutely zero to do with Friendship. A friend is someone you know enough about to appreciate and to genuinely care about how things are going with them. I don't know where that oxymoron called Frenemies originated, but, a friend is a friend, not a friend sometimes, and an enemy at other times. Somewhere along the way, the media with its increasingly powerful influence and its ubiquitous misrepresentation of what real lives look like, have our young people, and many of our adults, trying to mimic the aberrant behavior displayed in movies, sitcoms, YouTube shorts, etc., as if that is the way normal people behave. It is not! The behavior of normal people, is not something we are going to pay money for or spend a lot of time watching. Who are the influencers for our young people today?
In the past, parents and relatives were the influencers. In today's world, it seems that the news media and the social media have usurped that oh so important task away from the parents and the Village.
Little wonder that our young people are so stressed and yes, confused, by today's world. A true friend is someone who knows you and cares about you just the way you are. They understand that you have flaws just like they do. What they like about you is that in their eyes, you are genuine; you're not a phony and there is some area of mutual experience, that creates the friendship bond you share. Depending on how deep the friendship is, they should be able to let you know when you are going in the wrong direction, without you becoming offended. Friends understand that they have each other's best interest at heart.
Hopefully now, we are clear on what a friend is!
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