Friday, April 26, 2013

Friend - Five Minute Friday


I did it! I’ve missed three weeks, I think, doing Five Minute Fridays. I am intentionally not going back to count. This morning I saw the prompt and just wrote. I didn’t feel guilty about the ones I’d skipped. I didn’t think, “Oh, I should go back and do those others so I’ll have done the whole assignment.” I didn’t listen to the voice that said I didn’t have time and I probably wouldn’t do a good job anyway, what with all the other things happening in my life right now. So when I say, “I did it!” I’m saying that I overcame the voices of defeat and discouragement this morning before they even had a chance to speak. I’m also saying that I just wrote.

Just writing is so good for me. It’s like exhaling after going around holding my breath, holding my tongue, holding my heart carefully in prayerful hands to keep it from speaking out of turn. I write and I feel the taut muscles in my mind relax. Then I get to read what I’ve written, take another deep breath, and go away to the many non-writing tasks of my day. Inhale. Exhale. I am very grateful for breathing today.

I’m also grateful for friends, and that’s the topic for today’s Five Minute Friday assignment: Friend. So here’s my bit about that, in five minutes or so.



To have a friend, be a friend, my mother used to say. I hope I am a friend. Sometimes I feel so blessed by my friends that I wonder what I ever give back. I look at the time they spend listening, encouraging, hugging, cheering, and sometimes just waiting, and I wonder if I give as good as I get.

My very closest friends are the ones in whose presence I feel whole and, despite all indications to the contrary, normal. They “get” me. I do spend a lot of effort explaining myself, because I think communication is important. But sometimes, even with well-meaning listeners, it seems as if the explaining is in the wrong language. My best friends speak my language. They know that when I say I’m going shopping, it means I am facing an unpleasant challenge. They know that if I mention that it’s a rainy day, I may be reflective but I am not sad on account of the weather – I may even be happy for the grey. They understand what I say and also what I mean.

I don’t know what language that is, the one I speak that they understand. I guess everyone has a friend language, an unnamed way to speak from the heart to those who are willing and able to hear. Whatever it is, I’m glad I speak it and I’m even more glad they understand it.

Having a best friend makes it easier to breathe in those moments when life sucks the air out of me.

4 comments:

  1. "My best friends speak my language." Yes, that is so true. Good friends understand what is behind the things we do and say. It is a deeper language than talking.

    I'm glad you wrote today, and didn't worry about being behind@ (I have that same tendency).

    Hopping over from Five Minute Friday.

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  2. I'm not sure why it's calling me "Anonymous" and I've tried to figure it out but it's me, Cindy from myawesomeoliveshoots.com ;)

    "My very closest friends are the ones in whose presence I feel whole and, despite all indications to the contrary, normal." Yes, so true. I have some extremely dear friends that I have told my husband, "I like ME when I'm around THEM." It's like they see parts of me that I don't have to apologize for and we bring out the best things in each other. I find this especially true with my Christian friends. I also totally relate to not having done FMF's in a while. I could feel badly about that but what's the point? Let's focus on friends! Bless you and all you are doing these days!

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  3. I love this! This perfectly describes what a friend is. I love that FMF brings me to friends like you! Wonderful words (: Thanks for your sweet spirit!

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