Hi Sunny

Hmm...relationships (of any kind). Complicated business occasionally!

I find that my relationships with folk are pretty much based on how I relate to them and how they relate to me at any given time. If things in our lives have changed here and there over time, I find that we all begin to relate somewhat differently for different reasons.

I believe that when it comes to assessing our self as 'friendship material' in any relationship, we're best assessing how we relate to others. If we don't relate much to those who drink heavily and party a lot, then the relationship will reflect this. If we can't relate to being the 'joke' at the centre of a circle then we can understandably feel like the odd one out among an insensitive bunch. If we're not super chatty and everyone else around us is, friendships can feel awkward to some degree. But are these the kinds of friendships we're truly happy being within? It can feel a little like 'settling' at times.

When we really click with a person or a group, it's typically because we can relate to them and they can relate to us in a number of ways. Such people know how to be their most authentic positive self. Their expectations are fair and realistic. They promote our evolution just as we promote or encourage theirs. And you know what, at the end of the day, these qualities we seek in a friend are the same qualities we often long to find within our self (being positively and authentically us, having fair and realistic expectations of our self and promoting and encouraging evolution or love within our self).

My mantra: Seek not people but qualities within people. When we are drawn to the greatest of qualities we will discover the greatest of friendships with others and our self.

Take care and never stop seeking even if seeking takes you a little outside the square :)