Okay, if you’re like me, you receive an email with Fwd: on the subject line, you simply delete without reading, right?
My father-in-law, for instance, forwards me every single email he receives that has even the slightest “religious” message. He forwards my husband the political rhetoric and off-color jokes. He loves to forward emails and will quiz me on the content of the dozens he sends monthly every time we see one another. Those quizzes resemble a friendly battle on a paint ball range; me dodging bullets and him relentlessly pursuing. (**Disclaimer- if you know my father-in-law and send this to him, I’ll deny ever having written these words)
Yesterday, however, I got a Fwd: email from my childhood friend, Susie. Like so many other relationships that have been rekindled via social networking, she and I haven’t seen each other in years but hope to in the near future. She always sends me a text on holidays and we chat now and again about nothing in particular. She’s infectious. Always smiling and upbeat (she was like that as a kid, too) and she really “gets” the value of friends and family~ it’s woven in every status update she writes. Susie rarely emails me though, SO…naturally, I was intrigued by whatever she might deem worthy of forwarding to me.
Here it is. It’s titled Vitamin F and I love it.
With one of them I am polite. I joke with another friend.
I sit down and talk about serious matters with one. With another I laugh a lot. I may have coffee with one. I listen to one friend’s problems. Then I listen to another one’s advice for me.
My friends are all like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When completed, they form a treasure box. A treasure of friends! They are my friends who understand me better than myself, who support me through good days and bad days. We all pray together and for each other.
Doctors tell us that friends are good for our health. Dr. Oz calls them Vitamins F (for Friends) and counts the benefits of friends as essential to our well being. Research shows that people in strong social circles have less risk of depression and terminal strokes. If you enjoy Vitamins F constantly you can be up to 30 years younger than your real age. The warmth of friendship stops stress and even in your most intense moments it decreases the chance of a cardiac arrest or stroke by 50%.
I’m so happy that I have a stock of Vitamins F!
In summary, we should value our friends and keep in touch with them. We should try to see the funny side of things and laugh together, and pray for each other in the tough moments.
Thank you for being one of my Vitamins!
Be blessed!
Amy
P.S. Thank you, friends, who responded to my last post via email, or twitter, or leaving me a comment here on the blog. I am humbled to be your Vitamin F. 🙂