Comfortable Friendships

How do you feel about being comfortable? My body enjoys comfortable chairs. In a recent restaurant visit was your chair comfortable or did you feel a bit misaligned ? Did you enjoy eating your meal or did a small body pain decrease your pleasure ? Carolyn and I enjoy traveling and adjusting to a new hotel bed can be an interesting task. Yes it may take a night or two but hopefully by the third night I awake in the morning with a rested body and no sore muscles anywhere. How about wearing comfortable clothing. Do you have certain tops and pants that are more comfortable than others ??? Are there favorite shoes that make walking and hiking comfortable and successful? It’s spring in our flowering backyard. The temperature is nice and as we walk around smelling the various blossoms we feel very comfortable and energized by the beautiful colorful sights, warm and not too hot temperatures, and the relaxing smells.

How do you feel when you are uncomfortable? Have you taken a road trip where the bumps and sharp turns made you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even a bit scared and irritated ! How about that hotel room bed that never becomes comfortable. Your body is sore and that affects your daily sightseeing adventures or a seminar you are attending. Your attention spans are shortened and even your personal thoughts and feelings are degraded. We’ve even noticed that the concert music isn’t what we had desired and are even disappointed that we didn’t hear and enjoy what we had paid for. Being physically uncomfortable can easily degrade and bruise your expectations whether eating, sleeping, traveling, hiking or attending a special play or concert.

How do you feel when you are emotionally comfortable? Do you enjoy feeling happy thoughts? Carolyn and I smile and laugh easily when we see someone do something successfully. Maybe they are singing a song or opening a special gift . They smile, maybe yell with joy. Maybe they have reached out successfully to someone else with care and comfort. How about feeling emotionally relaxed and safe ? We deeply enjoy musical concerts where the lyrics are uplifting and focused supported by comfortable rhythmic music and sounds. Many medical studies have discovered the positive physical and emotional effects when we are comfortable. Our minds and bodies are happier and healthier. All of the examples above reflect personal and individual emotional feelings. It’s how the bed felt to your body. It’s how your meal tasted or you personally felt as you hiked through a beautiful meadow or enjoyed your rose garden.

Let’s explore your reactions and feelings when you are with friends and all of you are enjoying a special adventure. i personally enjoy “seeing” or “hearing” something shared by a friend. Often I realize I may have missed that special view or didn’t hear a song or musical event the way a friend shares. My friends often expand and enrich a meal - walk or a special occasion. We have friends with different feelings. Some like art - others like music - maybe a new adventure. We are comfortable because we trust those many different and varied friendships. They are safe and beneficial.

In our family rainbow world our comforts and feelings can range from comfortable to extremely uncomfortable. And our friendships can range from safe to being extremely unsafe. Our own personal health and our families emotional feelings can be enriched or damaged if we journey alone.

Please join us over the next few months as we more deeply explore personal tools and methods to create personal and family comfort through understanding the benefits of healthy friendships. It’s a personal  journey for each of us, but many different emotional and meaningful bits of information and behaviors can help each of us create our own comfortable and friendly lives.

Remember - Jesus never looked the other way - He made friends in every loop and turn taken with His followers. Friendship was Jesus’s daily focus - let’s be friends and share Jesus’s focus too!!

“Jesus never looked the other way - and through friendship with others we won’t either - love

all rainbow families !!”