friends

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” - Hubbard

Recently, I had a person that I’ve skated with admonish me:  ”I thought you were my friend!”  Well… that can be a slippery sort of thing with most people. Words are always loaded. This particular person seemed to view friendship in a differing manner than I. I believe that being friends is a give and take proposition. Reciprocity is the key to every relationship. In this case, it always seems like I’m the one putting forth the effort. Always giving… apologizing for perceived wrongs and bending to the will of this person. Friends don’t really have you around only in the good times either…  I see quite a bit of this. It is awesome having someone around but God forbid they have a serious problem. Abandoned. Real friends don’t look for you to fail so they can drag you through a mud puddle. If that is friendship, I would rather stay alone. Who really knows why people think the way they do. Everyone comes to us with their bitterness and anger from past relationships. Then there are those people absolutely incapable of being friends with anyone. I experience this often. I understand why folks need a bit of therapy from time to time. I read a humorous thing recently. It said, “Let people act all egotistical and selfish. When Karma comes back around and wrecks them, maybe the Gods will allow you to watch.” My friend Shawn is having a birthday today. We don’t always agree but we have built a friendship on skateboarding, comparative religion, philosophy and the need to lead a happy, positive life. Like minded. Thoughtful. We both agree that keeping negative people at arms length is sometimes the only path that we can take. It’s good to have a friend to walk with. Happy Birthday brother. Thanks to MRZ for the image. Skate- Ozzie