-Levels of Friendship.

This seems to be a reoccurring topic this week....or these past couple of weeks. How do you know if your friends are truly on your side? If they truly have your back? If they are truly on your team?

How do we weed our true friends from the so-called friends? Should we constantly be questioning others' motives? How can we truly form relationships if we do this?

I do believe there are different levels of friendship. Some friends are in it for the long run. Those are the ones that stand by you through the good and the bad and the in between. They are the ones that you would share your deepest secrets with - and they are the smallest number of your friends. Their motives are pure. They have your back, no matter what. 

Then there are those friends that are not in it for the long run but for only a season....for whatever the reason. They come into your life for a period of time and then, they leave. For some, these friends can be hard to let go.....fear of losing a friend...and the hurt that could follow. But when we realize we are going in different directions and agree to go our separate ways, we grow. 

Then there are those acquaintances, those people we don't share much of our {personal} lives with.....

Different levels of friendships. Different levels of relationships. When things go wrong, we question motives. We question if that person was ever really there for us. When friends grow apart, we feel a sense of loss. 

We cannot go around questioning everyone's motives....we cannot ask what their "angle is" either. Relationships are about trust, no matter what level of friendship it might be. 

With this comes all sorts of emotions, feelings, sometimes hurt, sometimes happiness.

We have to learn to let go of those friends who may be toxic to us. Hold on to the ones that are dear to us.

If I call you my friend, I've got your back - unconditionally. No. Matter. What. I am there. Just call on me. No questions asked.

Have you ever done something and then just wondered, "Why in the hell did I do that?" 

At the time, it might have seemed like the right thing to do, but then afterwards, no matter how right it seemed, it seemed dumb?  

I am the type to think things through before acting or deciding...sometimes to a fault....I can also overthink and over-analyze as well, often.  I'm accused often of not being "boring" and not very spontaneous.

I tend to be cautious and once I find that "safe zone", not move far from it. After all, safety keeps one from getting hurt...right?  It also keeps one from personal growth as well as new life experiences, be then positive or not-so-positive. It's not really "living" when you play it safe all the time, is it? One has to go through hurts and disappointments in life. One has to learn it's okay to feel. Yes. It's okay to feel. Whether it be happiness or sadness, anger or frustration. At times, it's just the intensity of these feelings that make life worth experiencing...and truly living. One should never be afraid to feel, truly feel. Feels can be intense and frightening but they can also be intense and exciting.

If you fall down in life, or get hurt, get back up. Experience Life. Enjoy Life. Feel. Happiness. Sadness. Pain. HeartBreaks. Whatever it is....allow yourself to feel.

Life will be better because of it.

Don't think too much, but don't think too little. Some of life's best experiences are not the well-thought out ones, but the ones where you just "go with the flow."

Try it. And let me know how it goes for you. I promise, it will be okay.