Learning....

To all who read(wish I could figure who does or did. Is there a way?): It's been a while since I've written and I apologize. But anywho, I'm just going to talk about what I've been learning in life. As I've been in my 20's(and slowly inching out of them), I've realized that friendships are very vital in this thing that we call life. You certainly need people around that you know are going to back you up and tell you to your face when you did something wrong. I've had lots of people come and go in my life, but I've had some people that have stayed around-I'm so grateful that God has placed these people in my life. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends.
I've also had people who I thought were my "friends" but just turned out to be people that talk about me behind my back. I don't need that. Who does really? I've also been learning that you should NEVER let someone else's opinion of other person affect of how you think of that person. You should ALWAYS find out for yourself how that person is and if you don't like them, then at least you can say you tried. You see, the way I see it is that we all have issues. We all have problems. We all have things that we have gone through in life. And whether we like it or not, they do shape us. We can push through those things and become better, but sometimes it may take years. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that you should never speak badly about someone or assume that you know anything about them until you've talked to them and spent time with them. Now don't get me wrong, I AM GUILTY. Did you read that? YES. I AM GUILTY. I have talked about people. I have assumed things about people. I have based my opinions of a person based on what someone else said. And you know what? I don't like that I did that. But I know that God forgives and forgets and I can start over again. I'm working on getting all the negative people out of my life and keeping the positive around. I need people who are going to encourage me, who are going to be there when I feel like crying and punching a hole in the wall, who are going to tell me how it is, who are going to assume that I feel one way when I feel another. Sometimes I may not be the most pleasant person to be around and I acknowledge that. I know that those who still want to be around me are the ones worth keeping.
I know I'm babbling here, but case and point is this: Get to know people for yourself. Be grateful for who you do have in your life. Be careful who you share things with. Life is a continual learning process. We all make mistakes, but the people who are still there in the end are the ones worth keeping around.