Friendship Is Beautiful

Do you think that your best friend is beautiful inside and out? Have you told her lately?  Maybe she’s not  beautiful by the worlds standards but by the standards of what really makes her a beautiful friend to you. Take a few minutes and tell her.  Here are a few reasons that makes our friends beautiful to us.  It is because every time you talk to her she has a smile on her face and never a scowling look.

Is it because she is sensitive to your needs and treats you with kindness? Is it because she is proud of your accomplishments and accepting of your faults? Is it because she allows you to be yourself and in her eyes you are beautiful?  Is it because she has seen you when your hair is a mess and you haven’t put on any makeup yet and she still tells you how beautiful you are? Is it because she always reminds you that perfection is overrated?

Have you ever thought about what this world would be like If everyone in this world were perfect?  We would all be exactly the same! That wouldn’t be any fun would it? Do you know that it is the very things that makes you different, that makes you beautiful and her too? Does she remind  you that you are unique in your appearance, in your wisdom, and in your emotions and so is she. These are the things that set you apart, make you irreplaceable. Maybe today you can write five things you like about her and yourself.

Maybe you can start a gratitude journal. telling her how much you appreciate her friendship. Does she remind you that you’re authentic when your body and mind are at ease and that you are beautiful, when you are completely yourself? Do you tell her she is too? On the days that you lose yourself in what the world expects of you does she  reminds you not to conform to what you “should be.” Then do you remember to create your own box and step outside it as you wish. Does she remind you to dance to your own tune?

Some days when  you may feel like shouting from the rooftops, “World, here I am!  Does she remind you that your voice is powerful, significant , and beautiful?  Do you tell her that her’s is too!  Do you know that you deserve to be heard.? You have learned from her to avoid magazines that tell you how you should be and to speak the words that are in your heart and stand up for what you believe in? She reminds you to speak up and be present and to make contributions to what you believe in.

Some days are harder than others and on those rainy days she reminds you to appreciate the sunshine.  Your best friend has helped you to grow stronger,  wiser and when you are feeling ugly her words of encouragement make you feel a bit more beautiful.

Don’t forget to honor your beautiful friends and let them know that your world is a more beautiful place because they are in it. Sometimes your beautiful friend can be your grandmother, mother, step mother, aunt, sister, sister-in-law, niece, a neighbor, co-worker, a childhood friend, teacher, or a mentor. What ever their title is don’t take them for granted and let them know that they are beautiful and so is their friendship.

Friends Make Life Much Sweeter

A good friend makes life so much sweeter and brighter during the sunny and rainy days of our lives. When you’re together it doesn’t matter if the skies pour or the winds howl or all of your plans go awry. They have the rare ability to transform disaster into an adventure.

Their friendship gives you courage to be what you want to be. A good friend like them is as rare as seeing a triple rainbow and as precious as rubies and emeralds by the tons, that cannot be measured. They will even say the right thing when you fall off your diet and into a hot fudge sundae. “Whipped cream doesn’t have any carbohydrates.”

They don’t mind your wrinkles much; because they came courtesy of the many years the two of you spent laughing together and they think you are pretty cool even when you are acting like the biggest nerd on earth. They are really the cool ones because they have the hear to spare your feelings.

Knowing they are always behind you is often your best reason for moving forward. Their friendship is the super-strength glue; The two of you have an impenetrable bond and are sticking together for life! Their friendship isn’t a gift you hold in your hands but a blessing you carry in your heart.

You Are My Friend Forever

Goodbye can be the saddest word we ever hear, and often it is not the word we are ready for, but in those times it’s the comforting words of friends that can make a difference.

A comforting friend will remind you that you were taught that everything has a season and summer must go to make room for autumn and winter, there is always a spring. Somehow those words don’t seem to be enough during a time when we are saying our goodbyes and letting go. They are meant to comfort, to console, but often can leave us feeling hollow for a while.

The real comfort comes in knowing that your friends cared, invested in you and love you. The void is something no one can deny or fill, but in grief you can feel the magnitude of the love of comforting friends.

Though your loss may have seem heavy realize that your friends love and concern for you is a great blessing and when your burden lightens that there will places in your heart that can only be filled with memories. 

And there are places in your soul that can only be healed by the gentle love of God and time. May you find comfort knowing so many thoughts are with you during your difficult time. May you find peace knowing that you have friends who care about you and are praying for you.

Hold fast to your memories, all the cherished moments of the past, the blessings and laughter. The joy and celebrations, the sorrow and tears they all add up to a treasure of fond yesterdays you shared and spent together, they keep the one you loved close to you in spirit and thought.

The special moments and memories in your life will never change they will always be in your heart, today and forevermore. your truly comforting friends know the best and must beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must be felt with your heart.

Life Is So Much Better With Great Friends

Great friends are hard to find and harder to hang on to, and hardest still to let go of. That’s why you should always remember to hold on to our great friends for dear life and tell them how much you treasure them.

A Great friend is a special kind of friend who knows exactly when to be honest with you and when it’s best to wait because after all they have mastered the art of timing that’s one of the qualities that make them so special. Then there are those well-meaning friends who tell you what we want to hear but a great friend tells you what we need to hear.

A Great friend is someone who is honest enough to warn you when you are about to make a big mistake and kind enough not to tease you when you make it anyway. They will helps you to see your most embarrassing moments as material for a comedy routine instead of being dramatizing incidents that make you feel like you need years of self-reflection. Great friends have a way of  understanding you when you have a problem and you don’t want a solution, advice, or even sympathy . . . you just need someone to listen. Great friends master the art of listening.

A Great friend will gently and tactfully suggest that you look at something another way when all of your plans go awry they have a rare ability to transform a disaster into an adventure. Their friendship gives you the courage to be what you want to be. True friends are as rare as triple rainbows and as precious as rubies and emeralds by the ton. They are a treasure that cannot be measured .

A Great Friend will guide you through your darkest days and longest nights counting the reasons you appreciate them is like counting leaves on a tree . . . you will lose your place long before you finish. Without them your life would be half empty, with them you feel happy, whole, and complete.

A Great Friend can be your Mother, Grandmother, Auntie, Sister, Brother, Spouse, Old Friend, New Friend, Teacher, Neighbor, A Childhood Friend, A Mentor, and so on  . . . but the one thing that remains true is that your prized possession in all the world is nothing that can be held or shown  . . . it is the friendship that over the years the two of you have nurtured and grown.  

~Miss Carol Jo ~

A Good Friend Keeps Her Promises And Doesn’t Gossip

One way to spread happiness is to keep your promises just as you see someone who is faithful to her word as trustworthy, so your friends, family , and business colleagues will also trust you when you hold to the truth. In this age of spin, when facts get altered in ways to deliberately mislead people and to further ideological agendas let your truth be absolute.

It isn’t always easy to align your truthfulness or integrity. Mother Teresa used truth as her nonviolent weapon against adversaries. No one questioned her truthfulness or whether she would keep her promises to others. Image the millions of lives that Mother Teresa touched because she was a woman of integrity and kept her promises. 

Gossip and promises don’t go together, so if you are a gossip count to ten and tell your friend that you’re breaking the gossip habit. Counting is one of those techniques you can use to manage a behavior that you choose to avoid. It’s a powerful technique used in anger management and can also be used when you don’t want to gossip but of course we all know the most powerful weapon against gossip is a strong and mighty prayer.

Malicious gossip is mean, and some experts declare it nothing less than a form of bullying. Step back, count to ten, and remove yourself from the gossip clique. Oh, my what will you ever talk about then? Don’t panic you’re pretty smart I’m sure you’ll find something interesting to talk about other than your friends behind their backs. Don’t take part in mud-slinging. Instead start saying words of praise about your friends and be an inspiring force in their lives. Remember finding things to praise about others inspires people to feel happy and trust you and gossiping does just the opposite. It’s your choice. 

The Power Of Friendship

Think . . . pause . . . then speak, it is a  wise friend who can communicate in this way. But all to often, in the rush to have ourselves heard, we speak first and think later . . . with unfortunate results.

If we seek to be as source of encouragement to friends and family, then we must measure our words carefully. Words are important: they can hurt or heal. Words can uplift us or discourage us, and reckless words, spoken in haste can be hard for us to erase but through Christ we can forgive and forget.

Today, speak with an encouraging word in your heart to all who cross your path. Measure your words carefully. Speak wisely, not impulsively. Use words of kindness and praise, not words of anger or derision. Remember that you have the power to heal others or to injure them, to life others up or to hold them back. When you lift them up, your wisdom will bring healing and comfort to a world that needs both.

Be the kind of friend who wants the best for your friends. Be the kind of friend who hopes that life is being good to them and that they will cope well with every challenge and reach their goals they want to reach. If they are feeling alienated from the world, and they are questioning if there’s another person who cares about what’s going on in their life be the kind of friend who tells them just how much God loves them and how much you care about them.

If they need a friend with whom they can share their hopes, dreams, and disappointments be that kind of friend. If they need someone to talk to, share their worries with, to pray for them to have perfect health, prosperity, and peace and happiness be that kind of friend. Be the kind of friend who points out their good qualities when they need lifting up. Be the kind of friend who would be there for them no matter what and who would go with them whatever the distance is they have to go.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. Roman 8:28

~ By Carol East~

Laughter is the oil in the engine of friendship

Arnold Glasow observed, “A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they’re not so good and sympathizes with your problems when they’re not so bad.” Herein , we consider the joys of a good laugh and the blessings of a good friend with whom we share it.

When the day is cloudy, keep me mindful that above the clouds, the sun still shines. And let me laugh with friends. And, each morning, when I open my eyes to a world of glorious possibilities, let me give thanks for the gift of life and friendship. Then, let me rise up and make the most of that gift. Let me strive toward a worthy purpose, and let me celebrate each day with a song, and a smile, and a prayer . . . and, let me laugh with old and new friends. 

All Purpose Advice

Don’t bypass the potential for meaningful friendships just because of differences. Explore them, Embrace them. Love them. ~ Luci Swindoll

It is wise to pour the oil of refined politeness on the mechanism of friendship ~ Colette

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose a friend; however, if two strangers come with the same request, accept, because you will gain one friend. ~ Saint  Augustine

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ~ Ed Cunningham

Happiness is not perfect until it is shared. ~ Jane Porter

Enduring friendships are also intended to cause rejoicing and celebration is the last thing on our minds. Sometimes, we fall prey to worry, frustrations, anxiety, or sheer exhaustion . . . and our hearts become heavy. What’s needed is plenty of rest, a large dose of perspective, a heaping helping of faith, and the encouraging words of a trusted friend . . . but not necessarily in that order.

When Friends Understand Each Other

Why is it that some people seem to radiate joy and enthusiasm in spite of adversity or trouble? How can it be that some people are excited all the time? These are some of the choice people that we all should be able to count as friends. They are resilient and seem to have a undefeatable spirit like for instance the inventor Thomas A. Edison when the great Edison Industries of West Orange burned down.

Thomas Edison was 67, not a young man and everything was going up in flames and the next morning as he was walking about the charred embers of all his hopes and dreams, Thomas Edison said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew and three weeks after the fire, his firm delivered the first phonograph! Now that ‘s the story of a man who learned how to face the adversities and disasters of this human existence. He also knew that 67 years were in the past . . . that loss of money was nothing really, because there was that inner strength that would allow him to build again.

So what has collapsed around you or maybe in one of  your friend’s life?  Have you recently experienced a relationship fall apart or maybe your or their marriage has come to an end? Take heart, my friend today can be a new day! You can make a new start! The problems that have come into your life can be used as a way of changing your direction and move forward. There is always hope and help for you when you build on God’s word.

Many years ago after my friend Linda’s divorce the thought of love and being married again really scared her and she knew that if she wanted to find love she would have to let someone in, yet opening her heart meant running the risk of getting hurt again. One day Linda was invited to join her best friend for lunch and her friend invited John to join them too, because she knew that he would be perfect for Linda. Her friend was right Linda and John hit it off instantly.

After a few months of Linda allowing herself to get acquainted with John she realized that he was the type of companion she had always wanted. They were in sync and he made her feel special and important whether they were together or apart. They stayed on the phone for hours talking and watching the Game Show Network.

Then one night was different instead of watching the game shows John asked, Linda if he could read to her the eulogy that he had written for his father’s funeral and she knew she had found her future. Well life happened, and they were prevented from moving ahead, but they had a lot of nice moments to look back on was the way Linda started thinking about their relationship. The truth was that Linda was feeling really scared to love again and told John that she never wanted to talk to him again and refused to tell him why?

When Linda told her best friend  how she was feeling she was very understanding and respectful of Linda’s feelings and knew just what to say to cheer her up. She had been there for Linda every inch of the way as Linda’s marriage was ending and knew exactly why Linda felt the way she did. She also knew that  no one would blame Linda for being scared to love again. A few weeks later she invited Linda to lunch and it just so happened that John showed up. I know you just never know what your best friend will do. Do you?  Some friends just don’t want you to miss out on your blessings.

Linda was happy to see John and she forgot all about being to scared to love again and said, “yes” when he purposed to her.  More importantly, Linda learned that she was able to love again, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and that all things work out  for the good.  Often, true friendship is just another way to spell perseverance.

Be A Generous Friend

There is one absolute principle if you really want your life to count, if you want to live with enthusiasm, if you want to make friends. FIND A NEED AND FILL IT! Only six words, but what a powerful concept! I would venture to say that every enterprise that has been successful has been built on this formula.

 Every true friendship is based on this foundation. Find people’s needs and fill them! Love people! Love this wonderful world! Love God! Be a  Generous  friend by giving  . . .

Giving  a smile to everyone you meet ( smile with your eyes) . . .  and you’ll smile and receive smiles.

Giving a kind word ( with kindly thought behind the word) . . . you will be kind and receive kind words.

Giving appreciation  (warmth from the heart) . . . you will appreciate and be appreciated.

Giving honor, credit, and applause (the victor’s wreath) . . . you will be honorable and receive credit and applause.

Giving your time to a friend is a worthy cause ( give with eagerness) . . .  you will be worthy and richly rewarded even if it doesn’t seem that way.

Giving hope ( the magic ingredient for success) . . . you will receive hope and feel hopeful.

Giving happiness to your friends ( a most treasured state of mind) . . . you will be happy and be made happy.

Giving encouragement (the incentive to action) . . . you will have courage and be encouraged.

Giving cheer (the verbal sunshine)  . . . you will have courage and be encouraged.

Giving a pleasant response ( the neutralizer of irritants)  . . . you will be pleased and receive pleasant responses.

Giving good thoughts (natures character builder) . . . you will feel good and your friends will have good thoughts for you.

Giving a prayer of friendship ( the instrument of miracles) . . .  You will receive blessings, more than you deserve!

Remember it’s better to keep  your friend from falling but if she falls help her back up and restore her faith, hope and dreams . .  . be generous with your gifts.

~Miss Carol Jo~

When Friends Forgive and Forget

Sometimes friendships don’t work out, even when you feel that you gave it everything you had. Sometimes you have to let go because it’s best for both of you. Sometimes it hurts. But it’s not life-ending or it can be a second opportunity to start over, start fresh. Dream big, then dream bigger. In the end you may be surprised by the peace that comes from realizing that by breaking , the two of you can  grow stronger as you forgive each other. Remember once God forgives, he forgets.

 Before you decide to end your friendship with her think about these things first. What about all the times she was there for you? Unemployment. Wasn’t she the one who cheered one and never stop believing for you? What about twenty years ago? You melted at first glance when you first saw the man of your dreams and you were to shy to talk to him. Wasn’t it her who broke the ice for you? Wasn’t she the one who took care of your twins while you were giving birth to your fourth baby? Isn’t she the one who has always been there to support you through all of your personal challenges?

Over the years, you have experienced  some awesome times and some rough times mixed day-to-day obstacles, but you know in your heart, down to your toes, that your everlasting love and friendship for each other can withstand anything life throws at the two of you . . . and despite what’s causing you to doubt the depth of the friendship. When you look into the life you have shared with your friend imagine all the you could have been individually. Then see what the two of you have created together because of your love and friendship. Remember there is not greater life than a life shared with friends.

~ Miss Carol Jo~