“Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies ….. well ….. don’t keep your enemies.”
Not everyone that is blood to me do I consider family, and not everyone that I consider family to me is blood related.
Most important though. Much like the possessions in our lives, the people in our lives must add value to it. For starters this means that these people must be positive and uplifting; they must be encouraging and motivational.
To take this even further, I am going to assert that the people in our lives must be resourceful. What I mean is, the people in our lives must be giving enough to offer their resources in friendship to us. Even if that resource is something as simple as time. Or maybe just a helping hand. Sometimes it could even be just some insight, wisdom, or ideas. And sometimes, it’s just a comforting shoulder to cry on. All these things are small ……. but not really. In fact all these things are huge.
For me personally, everyone in my life that I spend more than an hour socializing with has a very specific and well defined purpose to me. I have only three categories that a person can fall into: family, co-worker (colleague), and stranger. I keep no acquaintances. To clarify, there are people that I know who are not family or colleagues to me, but I have not had more than an hours conversation with them. Meh, maybe two hours (one can spend as much as an hour talking about the weather). I don’t believe in “on again, off again” friendships, or “he’s good to be with when he (fill in the blank).”
FYI: The attached photo is me and a couple buds doing our best Zoolander look. I think it’s “Blue Steel,” maybe “La Tigra.”