Comfortable Friends

Last month I wrote a "Things I Want" list and one of the identified items was, “I want to have comfortable friends.” Today as I reread last month's thoughts I wondered to myself, so what is a “comfortable” friend and what constitutes a comfortable friendship? Is it the amount of time one spends with a person, is it proximity or identical preferences; what makes this special bond? I decided to take a little bit of my Saturday afternoon and jot down what makes a comfortable friend for me.

Attributes of a “comfortable” friend, and thus, a comfortable friendship:

• We laugh, we cry, we rant, we tell secrets, we hold confidences and we know when to be silent.
• We listen.
• We respect each other’s strengths, and encourage each other to overcome our weaknesses.
• We speak with honesty, seasoned with grace.
• We forgive when boundaries have been crossed.
• We stand up for each other when the other person is not present.
• And at all times we can be ourselves, knowing that we are loved.

Now it's your turn, take a moment and define your comfortable friend.