I have this vague memory of a somewhat cheesy song I learned as a kid, maybe in Girl Scouts, or maybe in CCD. Maybe it was in school. My Google searches have not been turned up anything, and the rest of the melody is a blur, yet I can hear the one line of the song as clear as a day: "If you want a friend... be one."
I've come to learn that often the simplest sayings are very true.
If you want more clear communication, be clearer in yours.
If you want more compassion, be more compassionate.
If you want more harmony, be more harmonious.
If you want more connections, connect more.
If you want more peace, be more peaceful.
If you want more likes, give more likes.
If you want more love, be more loving.
If you want a friend, be a friend.
As is often the case, the opposite is true as well. If you want less drama, be less dramatic. If you want less stress, be less stressed. I recently had a situation in which a friend really hurt me. Her texts made me feel as if I was back in high school, and I said aloud, "I hate drama." And then I realized I could either be dramatic about it, telling anyone who would listen about how I was wronged, or I could cut the drama by just deleting the texts, writing about the experience in my journal, and actively choosing not to share the story with anyone else. I chose the second approach and it worked.
The beautiful thing about this crazy life we're living is that we always have a choice.
Be what you want.
Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash