How to find REAL friends

Part 1:  *Positive and Supportive Friends

How to know if you are surrounded with positive people.

What kind of people are you surrounded by on a daily basis?  Do you ever look around and take inventory of the people you spend time with, live around, and mingle with?  It’s time to take inventory of your life and lets begin with the people you spend your time with.  These people are the ones you go out with, eat with, go to bars with, go to concerts with, and basically go anywhere with.  These are the people you text or emails throughout the day while you are at work and these are the people you talk to on the way home from work.

What kind of people are they?  Are they positive people that live and act from a positive position?  Or are these people that you spend your time with negative?  Do they always see the negative side to things?  Sometimes attitude can be swayed and you can help a negative thinking person be more positive by illuminating their negativity and bringing it to light for them to see.  However, there are some negative people that also act out negatively towards anyone around them.  Do they raise you up and give you kudos when you deserve them?  Are they the first ones to share in your fortune and be happy for you when things are going well?  Or do they get a bit miffed and conveniently inaccessible when things are going well for you?  Are they the first ones to be supportive, not necessarily agreeable but have what’s best for you at heart?  If not…why then?

When it comes to friends, you can pick your friends, you can’t pick your family.  Friends should be picked and cultivated.  Having too many friends that go uncultivated is like having too many plants that don’t get water.  Cultivating when it comes to friends means that you take the time to truly get to know each friend, you take a true interest in them, and you give to the relationship.  You give in a relationship and you take, remember not to fall into the trap of being around a bunch of takers because as a giver you won’t have anything else to give!