Kim left an article for me to read this week about peer pressure and etiquette by Monica Irvine of The Etiquette Factory. Supposedly it was for me to help the kiddos, but the insight of the article was compelling for me personally. The article was comparing negative peer pressure and etiquette, and Monica links peer pressure and friendship. She defines a true friend as:
- someone who helps us want to be our best selves.
- someone who would never allow us to participate in a behavior that would be detrimental to us without warning us.
- someone who loves us and wants the best for us.
- someone who would never coerce or try to influence us to do anything that would go against our core values and principles.
Although the rest of the article was great, I wondered how many people feel like they do not have a true friend – someone who is a life “go-to” person.
Besides your spouse, who has been a true friend to you in your life? I would love to hear what makes them a great friend. Shout out to them in the comments below.
That is a great description of a true friend.Fortunately, I am blessed enough to say that I have many true friends, but the few that were around in my darkest days are the ones that stand out in my mind.
In college, I had a group of 4 girlfriends/ roommates that stuck with me during one of the ugliest times of my life. Their names are Amanda Vaughn, Amy Foulkes, Stephanie Proffitt, and Alisha Hackler. They were my first spiritual family. There was a certain period of time early in my walk with the Lord when I made one poor decision after another. These ladies challenged me on decisions that I made, but were still there for me when the consequences rained down. I avoided them, ignored them, and neglected them, but they were always there for me without question when all of my other “friends” left me to fend for myself. I’m happy to say that even now they are still there for me, and now I am in a place where I am able to be there for them, too. I can’t express how much I love those girls!