Two People...Too Different...To Be Friends?

Kathy:
If you knew Linda like I do (and some of you do!), you would come to find that she is extremely disciplined, organized, and committed. It's very impressive! She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her (at least that's how it seems, because she says that's not true.) Me on the other hand, I change like the wind. Exercising and eating healthy one week, one day, one hour at a time. My mother asks me periodically, “Are you eating sweets today…or will you be doing the anti-fungal diet…or maybe today you’re doing the cabbage soup diet?” This is always great for a good laugh…or maybe a good cry! On the other hand, Linda is skilled in the art of eating little bits of dessert and leaving the rest for me. I don’t know how she does it. But, it is inspiring and encourages me.

Linda:
Let me tell you how my friend Kathy diets (ha ha!). When January rolls around, I just wait for the announcement with baited breath…the one where she starts out saying…“Ok, don’t laugh, I’m cutting out ALL sugar, NO white flour, and I’m not doing ANY carbs till March.” I think, here we go again! But my heart is to support her and go along for the ride, which I am happy to do. One time we went up into the mountains of Georgia and shut ourselves away in a cabin for a week to write. Why she picked this week to start a new diet, I haven’t a clue because it meant, yes - me too! We went to the grocery store and bought everything we needed to survive the week on the cabbage diet. We ate cabbage on Monday, we ate cabbage on Tuesday, we ate cabbage on Wednesday…do you see where this is going? We found so many new things to do with cabbage it blew my mind. Why another diet? Because that’s how she operates when she wants to get in shape. I just sit back and smile. How long will it last? Who knows. Doesn’t matter. She makes me laugh as her wind blows in and out of diet mode.

What’s the point of sharing this? We are not on a mission to change or fix each other. We do life so differently, and so will you and the people you become friends with. How do you do it without driving each other nuts? One word: ACCEPTANCE. Accepting another “as is” makes everyone feel loved and secure. No matter how unique and original your friend may be, just embrace them. In fact it’s really an amazing gift when you can “let them be” and love them like they are.