I have been fortunate in my life to have some very good friends. The friends have changed through the years and through the stages of my life. I have also suffered some very serious betrayals. These betrayals have taught me to wait in new relationships to check out the underlying agendas. I want to know if a relationship will be reciprocal. Can I ask as much of the other as they ask of me? Can I say no without an emotional blast? Can I protect my personal limits and still be present to my friend? I know that my marriage relationship died because we were so busy doing “good deeds” that we stopped being friends. Although I sometimes wonder if we ever really were friends. We are both first born rule freaks. I choke to say that we were probably approval junkies. I have always known that goal setting was important. I never took the time to do it before I joined this list. Thank you 43Things. I have learned so much from all of the wonderful people here and from the simple “cheer”. All of my goals have come out of this goal, because I have learned to be my own friend. “What do you need today?”; “How are you feeling?”; “Is there something special you need today?”; “I’m so sorry you have to go through that today, I’ll be thinking of you.” and “Do you need a pretty hankie?”. Thank you 43Things. Life looks good.