Friends just happen?

The following is from Patrick Mathieu who has a blog, choose the life you want, which makes some interesting reading from time to time.

For many people, friendships “just happen”. People come in and out of our lives all the time; and some of them stick around as friends. Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

I want you to think about your friends and consider that quote. Next, I want you to think about the path you are on in your quest to Choose the Life You Want. Is there a fit?

Are your friends firmly in your corner, supporting you through your evolution? Or do you have the kind of friends who want you to stay the way you used to be in “the good ole days”? Do they look at you now and say: “Wow! You’ve really changed! I hardly recognize you anymore!” (said with enthusiasm)? Or do they look at you now and say “Wow… you’ve really changed! I hardly recognize you anymore!” (said with judgement, suspicion and disapproval)?

As adults, it can be very scary to think about facing the disapproval of old friends. But that fear serves no one. Keeping someone in your life just because they’ve been there for ages, doesn’t serve either of you if you are moving in different directions. People change, people grow and sometimes friends grow apart.

I want to leave you with a quote from Marianne Williamson.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”