Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Friendship in the Most Unlikely Places

Unlikely:
     1. Not likely; improbable.
     2. Not promising; likely to fail
             *http://www.thefreedictionary.com/unlikely

Friendship must be an important topic for me. As this is my second post on the subject.

As I was falling asleep last night I was reflecting on the friendships that I have had in my life. Without disclosing my age... we'll just say it's been awhile. 

I started to think about how I have come across some of my best friendships. I even started to think about some of the relationships I missed out on because I had a first impression of an "Unlikely" friend.

About three and a half years ago there was a lady in my war, part of my church congregation, who I thought was a little prickly. Both her and I were giving talks in our sacrament meeting, our Sunday service, when we were both done  and everyone was excused to move to the next session, I leaned to her and said, "You did a good job." Her reply was, "Thanks, yours was short."

Maybe six months later I was invited to join a walking group that included this women. Time passed and the two of us were the only people left in the walking group. We were both committed to walking and just kept going. My health was benefited. However, emotionally and spiritually I grew more in those early morning walks than I ever had. We were able to talk about life and how it associated with our faith. We could talk about scripture and the meaning of everyday decisions. One of my best, most fulfilling friendships started in a most unlikely way.

Now I find that I have friends in all shapes and sizes. I am grateful that I was given the blessing to have an open mind to look past the first impression and focus on the inside.

I like comparing people to candy bars. Maybe because I love candy and people. When I meet people and see on the outside they are all crunchy and hard I can't help but laugh. When I have looked passed the crunch to see a creamy, chewy, nugget center there have been many people that really want to be cared about, they just don't know how.

I also remember a tall, redheaded girl in high school. Looking back on our relationship I realize now that I missed out on a good friend. She had integrity, kindness and a cheery disposition. In retrospect I didn't put the time and energy into that possible friendship. A friendship that I'll never know what I could have put into it or gotten out of it.

What's the moral of my ramble? Keep an open heart and realize that the pricklies people put out are not  always meant to harm, just self defense. You never know when you may have a Positive relationship in an Unlikely place.

Have a wonderful day!!