REAL friends are Precious!~!

Ever have an intuitive sense of something being 'right' and acted on it and it turned out to meet all expectations - maybe even exceed them?  I did!!  I have two dear friends - could also call them role models, maybe wise woman mentors and just genuine compassionate caring individuals.  One of them just moved back into our area(Lillian) - the other one has been in my life for about 35 years(Harlene).  I wanted them to meet!  As I love to say...WOO HOO!!!  It was a done deal...success rules!!
   We are all three of us conscious of our eating - predominantly vegetarian.  We met at the Blue Sage restaurant in Southampton,PA.  Outstanding -great food; great service and great company. It took awhile to make our choices, but once done, we were pleased!
    Our visit gave me pause to reflect on the book I am reading by Brene Brown - The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.    She talks about WHOLEHEARTED living - engaging in our lives from   a place of worthiness.'  It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think, "No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough!!"  WOW!!
Brene talks about the power of LOVE BELONGING and BEING ENOUGH.  She shares guideposts  - ten of them. I will share them gradually.
   The first  CULTIVATING AUTHENTICITY is first in my heart as well and in my relationship with my friends, Harlene and Lillian.  Why I love them both and knew that they would connect easily with one another is that each of them is an authentic person.  What does that mean?  They are people who consciously practice being authentic.  They show up and are REAL..They are honest and let their true selves be seen.  They no longer embrace the need to think who they are supposed to be and instead just be who they are!   I strive to be an authentic person in my life in my transitions an aging.  Usually it works - for those who are genuine and caring.   Yesterday, someone left me a voice message that was less than authentic - less than caring or compassionate and quite mean spirited.  I had to give pause to who I really am - what I bring to the world - and how I am perceived by like minded people.  Go back to the Four Agreements - this call violated the first about using your words with care.  Then I had to again pay attention to the second about not taking it personally.
   Incidents like this phone call can bring out the ghosts - but as I become older and wiser and spend time with my genuine, authentic friends, reality and being who I am - being enough, it's  lots simpler.
   For this, I thank Lillian and Harlene for being in my life. The shoes   at the beginning of this post?  Well...I wish I could have posted a picture of the three of us but alas, I knew I had to respect my friends and their wishes of not liking their photographs taken.  Being peaceful with that.  So this picture was from three friends at the Gay Pride day yesterday in Philadelphia - I choose to be the one in the middle - Lillian and Harlene.  Makes me wonder which each would choose?!?  No matter - they show our individuality - our unity and our diversity.