230. Friends

The inspiration for this ones from a friend and former colleague/minion who is too cool for me now :)

Friendship.

I believe that friends have two roles and responsibilities.  Yes, yes, yes...there are more but ultimately it comes down to two general responsibilities that everything else falls under.

They have a responsibility to support you.  They have the responsibility to follow you into the darkness, the responsibility to carry you home, the responsibility to hold your hand when you're feeling lost or down and the responsibility to care for who you are.  To give you what you need.  To take the fat girl home while you strike out with the hot friend, to tell your girlfriend you've been talking sweet nothings about her all night ;-)  To take a shot in the gentlemen (balls) when some guy is trying to grab at them one night on your 30th birthday outside of Dave and Busters.  To give you what support you require with whatever situation occurs.  Get it?

Secondly, they have the responsibility to sharpen you.  What does that mean?  That means that they are meant to be a diamond.  They will sharpen the diamond that you are.  They are meant to call you on your crap, meant to tell you how it is.  There is a side effect to this.  A side effect to sharpening your friends...you will fight with them.  Oh yes...You will argue with them.  You will scream at them and you will not speak to them all the time because they upset you.  But they are meant to sharpen and expect more from you.  This is a natural side effect to sharpening...pieces get broken off ya know?  The outside chips away a bit.

Remember.  If you surround yourself with people and friends who want nothing more than the best for themselves and their own life, they will ONLY expect the same from you.  Their friendship comes at a cost.  The cost is you having the same or similar expectations as they have for themselves.  When you surround yourself with these kinds of people, the types of people that set bars and aim, they naturally bring that out in us...and they support and sharpen us to be the best we can.

Now.  Here's the real catch.  Sure I speak about what a friend is.  The two responsibilities (Support and Sharpen) but the question comes down to this.  I'm sure you're thinking about your friends...thinking about who is in your world...but can you honestly say that YOU do these things for your friends?

Take a real moment.  Do you Support and Sharpen your friends?  Do you hold their hand and kick them in the ass at the same time?  That is the catch.  Many can say "yeah...I have friends like that" but when we flip it...are you one of those?  Do you challenge your friends?  Do you hold them to the light?  Do you expect more from them or simply stand on their side chugging beer?  excusing their behavior by saying "oh that's just him/her"

Be a shampoo bottle!  Support, Sharpen and repeat.