Friendship

Over the years, friends have come and gone, and some have been able to maintain their friendship with me while knowing about my ED and other personal "crises".

I have been grateful the last few weeks for several of my friends.

What is special about these friends- what is it we should be looking for, not just for our ED recovery but also for life???

The friends that will tell you the truth, maybe gently at times when they need to, but who will be honest.
The friends who will accept you as you are. Who are not afraid of you or turned away.
The friends who give their time and their heart to you when you need them most, without expecting anything in return.
The friends who can listen, attempt to understand, especially the complexities of our disorder, who do not always try to problem solve or direct you, but sometimes will simply listen.
The friends that understand that for in order for us to recover, we need to be in charge of our own lives, make our own way, and problem solve on our own.

Unfortunately, we will not always find those people, and it will take "burning through" some people to find the people you can trust. But- if you don't take chances, then you won't find them.


Let us not forget though--What do we need to do in order to return their gifts and be good friends?

We need to be able to do the same things. We need to be able to live fully in the world so that we can engage others in their times of need as well. To live confidently so that we can see ourselves as strong friends with gifts to offer in friendship, and to end our inward and obsessive focus on the minutia of our weight and our eating.

thank you my friends