Today I thought we'd talk about the friend to friend relationship. Included in this category are healthy intimate relationships, as well. When you are in a friend/friend relationship, external control is practically never external used. If you were to use external control with your friends on a regular basis, you would soon discover you don’t have any.

Friends stay connected to each through choice, not obligation. In healthy friendships, each person has their own interests, unique and special pictures of what is important and need-satisfying to the individual. With friendships, there is an overlap of people and interests where you share some people, things, and values in common. You enjoy each other in that overlap but completely accept each other’s involvement in the things you don’t share.

Of course, there may be times when one or both of you will engage in activities with each other you don’t share because you want to try something new or you want to spend time with your friend. There is no pressure. There is no external control. There is respect, trust and acceptance. This is a pleasurable experience and these are the relationships that tend to last, standing the test of time.

Do you have healthy relationships in your life? If you do, do you value it/them with gratitude? If you don't, what do you need to change in order to create those kind of friendships in your life?