Used with permission.
My Facebook friends are amazing. Maura worked with me at one point, our lives went in different directions. I keep up with this amazing woman on Facebook. I put up with Facebook constant changes and try to sell me everything because it keeps me connected with people all over the world. I moved around a lot. PTSD ruled my life for years. I didn't have time or energy for friends. Years ago my teenage daughter pointed out how few friends I had. I was ok with it because I put all my small bit of energy into a growing family. Now, they are grown. I have time to make friends. I am learning that friendship takes time, energy and careful selection. I am blessed with a wonderful friend that happens to be my sister. I am fortunate in finding other friends on line, one encourages me so much she is my internet sister. I enjoy keeping in touch with friends I had at work but we all ventured in new directions. I am thankful to friends that encourage me. I am thankful for children that grew up and are now my friends. The hardest thing about being an abuse survivor is knowing what a friend is like. Unfortunately, I experienced friends that were fair weather friends. When my life got tough, they took off. I experienced acquaintances that saw a way to use me and did....but when I was all used up, disappeared. I love this quote because now I know how to tell if a person is a friend or not. Sometimes a friend is more like me with only a small amount of time or energy to share...that's ok too. Sometimes a friend is a smiley face on Facebook or a text....I need those friends late at night when insomnia is beating me up. One of the New Agey mumbo jumbo is only associate with positive people. Suffering from depression and PTSD I am not always positive. Sometimes I am hard to be around. However, I believe that some of the deepest friendships are forged in the depths of adversity. My sister post pictures of Navy Seals and the bonds formed in the depths of hell called war. I believe that the New Agey folks are missing out on the truly extraordinary friendships that bind people together across countries, languages, and diverse backgrounds when we pull together and help each other out of messes. I am thankful to people that touch my life and help to strengthen me sometimes when they don't even realize they are doing it. I am thankful to my readers that comment, click on love it or like it to let me know I was heard. Life is good and friends enrich my life.
2 comments:
This was a lovely post, Ruth, and a nice pick-me-up at the end of an emotional (but healing) day for me. So, thank you.
I liked hearing you have that sort of close friendship online. I've made a close friend online and often wondered if it is possible to be close friends only on the internet. But I think it is. And I value her so much.
I think learning to have friendships can be so valuable and finding them where you can is important. Many people I know are harsh on FB for how "impersonal" social media is, but I think, for some, it's a great place to develop our "friendship skills"
And just as an aside: my NM and MIL always offer to clean up after the party is all over and I've already done it all myself (literally). I guess that speaks volumes.
No matter how many times I clicked on "Love" it only counted me once. :-P
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