"Once You Get This"

I have been thinking tonight about friends.

We use the term so freely.

As I grow older, I am increasingly aware that true friends are very rare and a treasure to be found.

There have been times that I have made a 'friend' only to find that they were not the "lifetime" kind that I had hoped for.

The kind that when your memory searches the pages turned long ago, you find them there in the laughter and tears 

slipping in and out of your story.

I think sometimes we count many as friends even when we really shouldn't.

In fact, most of the people that we have called 'friends' are simply acquaintances.

You gotta love Facebook and the loose use of the 'friends list'.

If I were to whittle my 'list' to my real friends, I would probably have 2 maybe even 3.

Most of our acquaintances really weren't meant to be 'lifers' any more than we were meant to be lifetime friends to them.

It is sad, it often takes so long to learn the difference.

True friends are those willful creatures who refuse to give up.

Those special beings who will settle with you through the thick and thin. 

They will call to you out of the big blue sky,
and as unexpected as the rainbow in misty sun drenched skies.

They indeed, are a rare find.

It often takes many years to recognize the lifetime friend.

Acquaintances will come 
and they will go.

Seasons will change 
and they will pass.

And so will the many

who once called themselves friends.
We have seen it and felt it, often to the point of breaking over and over through the years.

A true friend is elusive; 
and acquaintances are plenty.
True friends are rare and special.
While acquaintances will exclude you and never think twice.
True friends are a gift to your heart while acquaintances will never trust you with theirs.

There is a secret to be had here.
The sooner we realize the difference between the acquaintance and friend,

the more content we become. 
We free ourselves of the expectation they were NEVER meant to fill.

Once you get this.

You get set free!!!!!

So, if you happen upon that rare and special person who proves them self true over time;

that wonderful soul who will not  betray nor abandon you in your time of need 

then you will know....

You have a found the crown jewel of your life.
A friend.
And your acquaintances will simply be, who they were always meant to be.

Remember this...
"SOME PEOPLE COME INTO YOUR LIFE FOR A SEASON, AND SOME COME FOR A LIFETIME. 
NEVER MIX SEASONAL PEOPLE UP WITH LIFETIME EXPECTATIONS"
-author unknown

A word to encourage:

In this lifetime, make a lot of acquaintances for amongst them lay a hidden treasure; amongst them...

lays a "friend for life."