my friendsIf I ever want to feel good about myself, all I have to do is log in to Facebook.  Once I’m in, a quick glance to the left and whatever temporal insecurities I may have been facing or whatever loneliness I may have been feeling vanish immediately… After all, I have nearly 700 friends.  Who can be down on themselves with those kind of stats!

Seriously? 700? Friends? What gives?  Either I’m just that popular or somewhere along the lines someone has changed my definition of “friend.”  Although my ego would rather me believe I’m that popular, the reality is my Facebook definition of a friend is a little off kilter to what real friends are, or at least what I want them to be.

At the risk of possibly offending one of the 693 people… er, uh… friends that I have linked to on Facebook, I’d like you to consider some alternate definitions for the many varied relationships that you have in your life.  You’d be surprised how many “friends” you might not have.

My Distinctions

Fans – people who are proud of what you’re doing

Friends – people who acknowledge what you’re doing

Family – people who labor with you in what you’re doing

The fact is, I don’t have the capacity to continue to build relationships with all of the people that I know.  You might.  I don’t.  Rather than settle for a whole lot of very shallow relationships, I choose to invest into a smaller number of relationships – a family of people that I “do life” with.

Another Distinction

Fans – we know each other

Friends – we show each other

Family – we grow each other

I believe that the purpose of relationship is change – we are meant to grow.  Physically, emotionally, and especially spiritually, we are created to grow.  The relationships that we surround ourselves with provide the environment that encourages our growth.

I have a lot of friends, but I’m always on the look out for family. What about you?

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