To my friends that read this blog:

For the record, I want to apologize to anyone that my friendship may have fallen short with. I have a tendency to take advantage of my friends by dumping on them with my problems. (No one actually told me this...this is just something I have come to realize about myself.)

I had a friend come to me today with a serious problem, which had been ongoing for quite some time. I sort of knew about the problem, but only a fraction of it, and I didn't realize the seriousness of the problem, and when the friend told me what the reason was for not telling me about it sooner, I was baffled. It was because they felt I had enough problems already, and they didn't want to overburden me with this problem. Well, the truth is, I feel really guilty somehow because I feel like I wasn't there for my friend when my friend really needed me. Yes, I was there, available to talk, but before my friend could probably get a word in edge wise, I was probably blabbing about my own problems, so my friend probably just decided to keep it to themself.

I want to offer my apologies to my friend, as well as any other friends I may have done this to in the past. I really do have a good listening ear and can give sound advice, but sometimes I get so self-absorbed in my own little problems, I forget other people have problems bigger and more important than my own. So in the future, and this is to everyone, please...if you have a serious problem and really need to talk, please, please, PLEASE do not hesitate to come to me. That is, if you really need to talk about it, and it's something you want to talk about. Do not ever feel like I have too many problems to make time for you.

The truth is, I have my own set of problems...everyone does...even the people that appear to have perfect lives, tons of money, the biggest house, the best job, etc., etc....they, too, have problems. But I always want to be there for my friends and I always want my friends to feel like when there is no one else around, I am there for them in any way that I can be there for them. And I hope I still have a few friends out there that I can go to with a problem.

The thing is, if you keep things bottled up, it festers up on the inside and can drive you crazy. Getting it all out really helps. Friendship isn't always about fun things...laughing, joking, talking on the phone, going out for lunch, etc. Sometimes, okay, a lot of the time, it's about getting through tough times together. And when those tough times come along, it's a wonderful thing to have a friend you can cry in front of, vent to, ask for prayer, or just sit in silence and LISTEN to the other person.

So...all I am asking is please forgive me for failing you as a friend.