Friend or Acquaintance?

FRIEND OR ACQUAINTANCE?

When I was growing up, I wanted to be friends with everyone. I thought if I could make them laugh or smile they would like me and we would be good friends.

My daddy warned me though. He said to stop acting like a clown and stop trying to entertain everyone. He said that when I graduated from high school and went off to college I would never see 99% of those people again. At the time it sounded ridiculous. In reality he was right.

Apparently I passed on this "friend theory" to our daughter. She has always been friendly and outgoing; introducing the kids she was with at any given time as her "friends".

The main question here is, were any of these people ever really our friends or just our acquaintances?

An acquaintance is someone we know. We like something about them. Our paths may cross often or just cooasionally. I imagine all of us can name of lot of acquaintances that we have had.

Friends are more than acquaintances. Friends have some distinct characteristics.

Friends are loyal. When I think of loyalty I think of puppy dogs. His tail wags when he sees you coming. He's by your side wherever you go. Even though you may have said or done something wrong or are simply having a bad day, a friend is right there with you.

Friends stay in contact. They know how the kids are doing in school. They know about your struggles, about your promotion at work and about any illness or death you may have had in your family.

Friends have things in common. We may have a common faith or enjoy the same sports. We may be a member of the same service orginization or we may be related. Usually the strength of our friendship is in direct reation to any number of things we may have in common.

Friends spend time with each other. Our personal time is one of our greatest gifts. We only have 24 hours a day. We need to sleep for eight hours. Most of us need to work some too so that leaves us a few hours to spend on the optional things in our lives. A friend will find the time in their busy schedule to spend with their friends.

Friends love each other. When we love each other we will be patient and kind toward each other. We will not be envious or boastful. When they do something wrong, we won't even notice.

It is safe to say that if you find someone with these characteristics, you will want to be their friend.

Over the years I have been fortunate to have had a lot of acquaintances and friends. I am thankful for every single one of them.

They say a person is fortunate if they have one or two good friends. I have not been able to pinpoint a specific number of friends I have had but I will say that I may not have a lot of money but based on the value these freinds have added to my life, I am a millionaire.