I read this awhile back and it stuck with me. A simple reminder that we never really know what is underneath te surface.
If ever you have had a friend...
a good one, a real one.
someone who has given you something that no
one else ever exactly has...
then be slow to give up on them, find it in your
heart to see them with patience.
if they are quiet, seem to be acting differently
than you've come to expect or maybe not giving
at the level you are used to, perhaps they are in
hibernation, playing dead in an attempt to
survive a pain or a difficulty stronger than they
know how to handle gracefully.
be slow to believe the worst; assumption is a
ruinous and untrustworthy advisor.
the surface of something is most always the
smallest percentage of it. look at how much of
what is vital about you exists beneath your skin.
things are rarely as they appear, and when you
judge something before it's time, you separate
yourself from much worth experiencing - like
biting into and spiting out a sour apple, weeks
before it is ripe.
the butcher's knife of condemnation is good for
little but making bloody messes.
sometimes people need room to grow. what
benefit is it to you to hold other people to your
measurements? perhaps they travel in a
different direction than you have been, are
dealing with a terrain that has different
challenges than your own, and at a different
speed. there is no way for you to know for sure.
even if an assumption is popular, it doesn't
make it true. a thousand people, staring at the
surface will see no deeper than one, and lend
no more credence. watch for the tendency for
your fears to give such shallow perception non-
existent weight.
in this world of flux and flex, an open heart and
a ready shoulder are often the best gift you can
give to a friend who's going through a rough
time, and, those being offered, a peaceful space
-so they can find their way through their mazes
at their own pace.
good friends are worth the wait.
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