“Real friendships can handle “no.” If your relationship cannot survive honesty, it is not a real friendship. Friends can disagree and yet love and respect one another. True caring requires realness, the willingness to be who we are. A friendship based on anything other than sincerity is a guilt bargain – two people selling themselves out for approval, and not acknowledging that their heart is aching to share more. In a way, many of the world’s friendships are like the story of the emperor’s new clothes. The ills of our world hold power only when we are unwilling to tell the truth in the face of illusions.
Darkness cannot stand the light, and illusions cannot endure in the face of the truth. Dedicate your friendship to the truth, and you will be amazed at the peace and satisfaction it brings you. If a friendship is not big enough to survive your “no,” you don’t want it anyway. The real strength of a true relationship lies in our willingness to speak our honest thoughts and feelings. Do not settle for anything less.”
Alan Cohen, in “Dare to Be Yourself”
For more information about this book visit Amazon.
Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in May 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.