Picking Your Friends

How do you pick your friends? Because I’m old and have had the chance to meet a lot of people, I probably have a big database in my head and heart that tells me who to trust. I’m not saying that my judgement (database) is better than anyone else’s, I’m just saying I’ve had a lot of practice. But honestly, I’ve never really thought about my ‘process’ for picking friends. So, for today, let’s think about how we pick our friends and let’s start with…

Pick Yourself First

I read an article in Quora (a site I love, full of interesting Q’s & A’s), that talked about how the Torah gives us instructions as how to recognize a person’s true nature. Here’s what it says:

[The true nature of] a person is recognized through three things: his ‘cup’ (how he acts after drinking), his ‘wallet’ (his business integrity and how he spends his money), and his ‘anger’.

I’m not suggesting that there are no other criteria for evaluating friendships. Of course there are. But let’s take these 3 and let’s apply them first to ourselves.

• Regarding drink, I come from a long line of alcoholics. Fortunately, I am not one, but we do need to view this particular aspect gently.
• The second item, the wallet, also needs to be thought of rather gently. I grew up lower middle class in an upper middle-class suburb. The way I saw and still see the world is through a rather skewed lens. I think about the future and want to make sure I have ‘enough’ to take care of the people I love and myself. The one think I do cherish though, is my commitment to helping those less fortunate than myself. I try to put my time and money to use in a world where so many, need so much.
• Regarding anger, this is a constant struggle for me. I am a woman and women aren’t supposed to get angry. We’re supposed to stuff it down and act calm and sweet. This is not a healthy way to go through life. Finding a way to acknowledge and deal with our anger is, for me, a life long journey.

So I suggest that before we work to ‘recognize’ anyone else’s nature, we examine our own.

My Friend’s True Nature?

Fortunately, most people are pretty generous when it comes to accepting me the way I am. I’m grateful for that. I hope that’s because I’m on a continuous journey to know myself and recognize my own true nature.

Happy Passover!

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