Nourish Your Friendships

Friends are like Flowers!
I like to think of friendships kind of like plants or flowers. When you find a nice one, you want it to grow by planting the seed. However, you have to remember to nourish it by watering, fertilizing, and paying attention to it. Friendships are the same way. It requires us to give away a part of ourselves, to pay attention. We have to take the time to listen and share of ourselves like watering the plant. We take the time to allow it to grow by spending time with our friends such as fertilizing to help the friendship grow. Our friends should bring out the best of who we are as we do the same for them...to encourage, brighten, and help each other grow in the way God has called us to be.

I've never been good with plants. In fact, if you want a plant to die, just let me touch it as I must have the plague for plants. Embarrassingly, the same is true when it comes to my friendships. I am able to share with others and be open about a lot of things. However, there always seems to be an emotional "halt" or "wall" that comes up when I feel I am getting too comfortable. My trust guard jumps up and says "Hey, we'd better not go any further!"

Perhaps its my "only" child syndrome that allows me to be secure and safe in my own little world. As with a lot of "only" children, our time with friends is valuable, sometimes attention hungry, yet we have no problem walking away and being alone. We've been alone most of our childhood. Our close friends were inanimate objects, things we would cling to as if the objects had real feelings or souls.

Perhaps it could also be those toxic friendships of my past where I gave and gave of myself yet was taken advantage of many times. I have a tendency to over give of myself. Because of my esteem issues, I often seek the approval or the OK from the other person. Slowly I am learning that it is not the approval from others that I need. Its the acceptance of God that I have already received. It's up to me to be acceptance of myself and to accept the love of God in my life on a daily sometimes hourly basis.

I would like to have more flowers in my life. I know God will provide them, some thorns and weeds too, but it will be up to me to water and fertilize them.

Nourish the friends in your life!