Do you ever stop and think about the people you surround yourself with?  I mean, why do you pick the friends that you do?  What qualities do you look for?  Are there different things you want in female friends that you want in male friends?  Are there things that you look for in people that are older, or younger?  Do you set mental parameters as to what type of people you can be friends with?  For some reason, I began to think about these things recently, as I looked at my own sets of acquantences.  I look at my life, and see a trend of always having friends that were my age or older.  I guess I equate this to being a fairly mature person for my age growing up, and I tried to surround myself with people on my "level" more than people my age.  Now, I see I have friends in almost every catogory:  Single guys that are double my age…single guys that are my age…single girls…married guys…..married ladies….a more eclectic list than my former years of life.  Why is that?  I believe as I have grown up, I have been able to develop a deeper understanding of people’s CHARACTER, and maybe not so much their TRAITS.  While this may seem like an oxymoron due to the fact the two words are usually used in tandem, I believe there may be a distinct difference.  A younger me only spotted the TRAITS of people…The fact that they were funny….some were pretty girls….I thought I was smarter than them…..They could drive fast….They also had musical talent…they had video games at their house…etc.  And while some of those traits are worth noting, very few are worth forming or maintaining a real relationship.  An older, more invloved me, has found CHARACTER is much more valuable.  Things that draw my attention NOW, are things that were never on my radar before:  People who are thoughtful, compassionate…People who aren’t afraid to be REAL, and show it’s OK…people who believe something and work hard to prove it.  I find these things are much more vaulable, and almost necessary to form real, lasting relationshps with people.  Necessary, because the TRAITS I looked for long ago mean nothing now, really….Funny is great, but if you have no Compassion, so what?  Driving fast cars and being smarter, those things fade with time.  Pretty girls can’t be a draw anymore, for obvious reasons.  Maybe it’s because of all these traits that haven’t held up, that has caused me to look deeper into myself, and other people.  I find the harder you look at someones character, the less important their traits become, even bad ones.  Say someone has a tendancy to be late…..so what?  That’s a trait….I’d take someone who’s late but Caring ANY DAY over someone who is filled with negativity. 

     The more I think about it, the more I personally believe (with absolutely no Biblical backup that I am aware of at 12:51am) that all of our friends are here for a reason, because they bring something to the table that you will need one day…..maybe someone is your release from a bad day at work…maybe someone is the person you talk to when you are struggling with a problem….maybe someone is there to challenge and grow your character…maybe someone is there to show you love when you feel unloved…..and most importantly….maybe they are there for you to show THEM love when THEY feel unloved….Maybe they are there for you to help THEM through rough times….maybe you are the person taking THEM out to dinner, just to catch up.  I think that’s what our friends are all about….showing each other God’s love; through humble acts of service, and by being there for each other.

    I have developed lots of friendships since I have moved to Las Vegas….Most of which I could say I Love…and many of which I hope are life-long.  I believe many of you subscribe to this blog.  I am thankful every day for the attributes and attitudes I have learned from each and every one of you, and for the things that you have given me, and challenged me with.  I hope that before my time at the Ridge is done, someone can say that they got even 1/10th of what I got from them.

     While I of course think family is important, necessary, and all of that….I think our lives revolve and EVOLVE around the friendships that we make.  Sometimes friendships will fail, sometimes they will be strained, and sometimes even frowned upon, but I know we are put in each others lives for a reason, and I am totally stoked about the challenge of finding out why….

(Editors Note:  Of course, daily excercise, and spiritual growth also helps form who you are, but that didn’t really fit in the above blog )