2 things that are WRONG in the world- Number 1: We don’t make friends any more. Number 2: I don’t understand how it happened but society changed the definition of the word ?acceptance? and exchanged it with the definition of ?endorsement?. Regarding friendship…it is a LIE that social media will make us less alone. Now, we are all alone together. Yes, rates of depression are on the rise, but many people who think they are depressed are actually suffering from loneliness. Loneliness is not the same thing as depression. It breaks my heart to see so many people hurting. We need real friends that we talk to about real stuff face to face. Real friendship is much harder and truthfully more painful at times than ?connecting? online. But the rewards are SO much greater! Which leads me to the second point about ?acceptance.? I ?accept? all of my friends just as they are no matter what they do or who they are. But I don’t always endorse their decisions. True love and friendship sometimes means NOT endorsing them. I have friends who are abandoning their kids; cheating on their spouses; lost in addiction. Yes, I accept them and love them, but a true friend tells them that they are wrong. A friend reminds them of WHO THEY ARE. As a man, sometimes being a friend means slapping some sense into another man. Yeah that’s right.
Accepting/endorsing everyone and everything they do is actually not love. That’s like allowing your kids to play in the middle of the highway because you ?love? them too much to give them boundaries. We need to wake up and remember that love is gentle, But LOVE IS STRONG.
Be a friend. Make a friend. And when it gets painful, remind yourself that this is the price of not being alone.
If friendship doesn’t hurt, then you are not doing it right.