People,
People who need people,
Are the luckiest people in the world
We’re children, needing other children
And yet letting a grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children

The lyric above is from a song that has always been a favorite of mine, “People” sung by Barbara Streisand.

I’ve spent many years telling myself that I do not need friendship.  I’m no longer sure that is true.   We are people who need people.  I am a person who needs people.

We are complicated beings.   Each of us bringing past experience, past hurt, past baggage to any new relationship.

Friendship , especially a group friendship, is a lot like playing scrabble with a big bag of jumbled letters.   One person spells out  F-U-N and another might spell out H-U-R-T  or  C-O-N-F-U-S-E-D.

I believe  the only word we need to spell is A-C-C-E-P-T.

If I can be accepted for who I am and I can accept others for who they are then the sea of friendship stays calm.

What seems to ruin the calm and cause the sea to roil  is E-X-P-E-C-T-A-T-I-O-N and D-I-S-A-P-O-I-N-T-M-E-N-T.

When we project our expectations on others ( what have you done for me lately? or why aren’t you acting like I think you should act?) and they don’t meet those expectations then we end up dissatisfied with the relationship.

Each of us has positive and negative energy.   I want to try to focus on the positive energy  I see in others.

Focus on the good, and the bad recedes.

Then maybe I can spell out C-O-M-F-O-R-T-A-B-L-E or T-R-U-S-T or the most important to me A-C-C-E-P-T-E-D.

If we keep it simple and focus on the good things, both in ourselves and in others, it is easier to love and be loved.

S-I-M-P-L-I-S-T-I-C ?

Maybe so but we have to start somewhere.   Let’s start with the positive.