A good barometer to use, when determining how
a big a role you allow someone to play in your life,
is how they treat others - not you.
If a person is kind and caring and compassionate
in their dealings with people, we are not surprised
when they treat us the same way. Yet, if they are
good to us, and mean spirited toward others, we
are shocked and hurt when, somewhere down the
line, they treat us in the same manner.
"But," you say, "He would never do that to ME."
"But," you say, "She would never treat ME like that."
When we care for someone, and we truly believe
they care for us, we tend to overlook certain
things, and we should. None of us are perfect.
But a person who lies... lies. A person who
gossips... gossips. A person who cheats...
cheats. A person who betrays... betrays.
This is a difficult lesson for many people to learn,
myself included. It took a few good-hard-knocks
on the head, before I realized that friendship is
not a safety zone. If I associate myself with
someone who tends to tell lies, I have no logical
reason to be upset when they tell a lie about me.
People show you their true colors all the time.
Simply look at the way they treat others. It's a
pretty reliable indication of who they really are.
Your friendship garden may be small, when your
closest companions are those who treat the
world with the same love and respect that you
do, but their wondrous blossoms will always be
there for you to enjoy.
-- Living in love and loving life,
Terri McPherson

