The Importance of Friends

You’ve probably heard that you really know who your true friends are when the going gets tough. I believe there is a lot of truth to that statement. We have all experienced a scenario or two when we have been going through a painful situation only to discover who actually has the time for us. . . our tears, our problems, our endless hours of whining and self-discovery. The people in our lives who we thought would be there, faithfully -- no matter what, through thick or thin -- wind up being, what we called in second grade, “fair-weathered friends.”

As you know, a fair-weathered friend is someone who is only your friend when things are going good. When the weather is nice. When things look bright and sunny or when they need YOU. As long as the atmosphere is pleasant, you have a friend for life but let a storm start to brew in your neighborhood and they are nowhere to be found.

I wrote an acronym when I was in grade school for the word “friend” that I think holds a very true meaning of what a real friend should be.

F.R.I.E.N.D. = Found Reaching In Every Needed Direction.

You see, it shouldn’t matter what the climate is in your world as to whether your friends stand with you during times that are stormy or sunny. It is usually the times of adversity that draw our faithful friends to us and then we become closer and more personally bonded with them -- building longer lasting, closer relationships.