Friendships: What merits a great one?

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends leave footprints in your heart."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Lately, my mind has wondered to and fro about the idealistic nature of friendships and what people find as criteria for a good friendship.  I have heard many sayings that revolve around how one determines true friendship and funny thing is most of the time it is not that cut and dry. I like to think I try to be a good friend, but I know I fall short drastically in that I am introverted and need my distance, that I do not communicate in all the various ways enough, and my attitude can be a positive or negative contender in the mix, but I do try.
I believe everyone has personal requirements for friendships and each requirement carries a certain weight. I think my biggest requirement is TRUST, I have a hard time just having blind trust in people and so trust does not come easy for me. Trust to me is like needing refreshing water to others, it is what keeps me going in friendships.  Other requirements that I hold dear to me are honesty, and an understanding of oneself and not needing to be someone else.

Over the years, I have learned some lessons of what may not seem to be good friendships and that sometimes differences do not attract and sometimes having too much in common can lead to disaster. I also know there are those times that friendship defies all of these and becomes one harmonious gathering.
Let's take my husband, astrologically we are oil and water and should never mix, but oh do we like each other around. Is it pleasant always, No! But said husband, realized a long time ago that to get me to let him into my "little world" he was going to have to gain my trust and that is what he took a notion to do in small, concise ways that paid off in the end. Trust! goes a long way with me.
Other friendships that I hold dear to my heart are those that were sealed through moments in time that people come together and realize that puzzle pieces just fit, or those that we meet and are just mesmerized by how they have the strength to deal with such chaos in their life and still have the biggest heart, the most positive outlook on life and tries to never let anything get in their way of happiness. 
Sadly, not all friendships are meant to be, I have found that a timeline should be coveted in one's mind to how long one should be acquaintances before truly be considered a friend. In a freshly new friendship or one that has gone astray and reconnection has happened, that one weighted requirement should be at the forefront of the friendship. It should always be present and calculating the timeline to if the friendship will go down in history as a great friendship that surpassed all boundaries and satisfies the weighted requirement of TRUST or was it a friendship that was to teach you a lesson and that is all.
So I know I am not a perfect friend but this year alone I have reached out to a friend I had years ago, that I know I am the reason we wavered in our friendship and asked for forgiveness, told that friend that I missed our once great friendship and wished we could work on it now that I understand what went wrong and how my attitude played a big part in the distance that has become between us and the friendship.  There are other acquaintances that I would love to venture and try to have better friendships with and I know that trying to be a better friend is the first step in the right direction.
So I go forth, with my weighted requirement on my left arm and seek to learn more about my friendship ability and to consider who I want to call great, compatible, and trustworthy for my future friendships, especially with this adventure ahead of me of Becoming a Miller.

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