Do You Receive?

Receiving seems natural, right? It balances the act of giving. However, receiving doesn’t always come natural to some people.

I am a giver by nature. I love giving to friends and family and whoever I can. It’s not as selfless as it sounds. I get something out of it. I feel valued, important, and appreciated, among other things. I also love to see someone smile because of something I did, said, or gave them.

There are a lot of people who prey on givers. The takers, if you will. I’ve come across several people like that in my life. I’m not mad or angry anymore, I’m grateful for the lessons. I showed those people what they needed to see to learn how to manipulate me, and I let it happen.

Now, I take care of myself first. I still love to give and treat those I care about, but within reason. I am coming to understand the give and take of friendship, or any relationship for that matter.

One of my closest friends has taught me a few valuable lessons in this department. I think I’ve taught her a few, as well. We both tend to be the friend who looks out for others, pays for dinners, makes the plans, finances the plans, etc.

Having two of us in the relationship who both do these things has been difficult at times. It made both of us uncomfortable to let the other one pick up the tab or take care of things.

I lost a job a few years back, so I wasn’t in the position to do the things I normally did. I had a few friends who really looked after me during that time. She was one of them. She had me come over almost every day to eat dinner with her family. If I didn’t come over, she was on my phone checking on me. I was struggling financially, mentally, and emotionally.

As a matter of fact, since we have grown close, she has always been there to check on me. We both use humor and sarcasm to get through life, which means we speak the same language. More importantly, we just accept each other for who we are and encourage each other to grow in the areas we desire to.

We’ve both had some of life’s twists and turns come up that have humbled us and made us learn to receive from each other. A friendship like that is invaluable.

I’m so grateful for her. For all the things she’s taught me, showed me, loved me through, and accepted in me. When we’ve disagreed or not seen eye to eye, we sat down and talked it out. We made whatever changes were necessary to keep our friendship above all else.

Thank you Britt. For teaching me how to receive. For loving me through my selfish and self-sabotaging ways. For being resilient. For always encouraging me, while letting me be me, wherever I may be in my journey.

I’ve said before that it’s important to have a circle of people who genuinely support you and love you. Britt is one of those people in my circle. I’m grateful for our unorthodox friendship and bond. She gets me like no one else ever has.

As a matter of fact, I put a ring on it! (I asked her to be my bff…forever.)

Do you have friends like that? Are you a friend like that? Sometimes we long for the type of friend we need, not realizing we have to be that type of friend as well.