If you’re new to Life In Motion, here’s what you should know: this is a podcast where best friends, Heather George and Jamie Jobe, talk about life—the ups, the downs, and everything in between, even the things we’re not supposed to talk about.
This season, we’re dialing in and dedicating to making, managing, and molding close, personal friendships. Let’s get started!
Before we jump into making, managing, and molding friendships, we really need to talk about why friendship is important. You were made for close, personal relationships both in your family and outside of it. Introvert or extravert, biologically, we all receive energy from people when you’re in their presence.
At some point in the last decade, “People suck” became a more common saying. Likely, you began protecting yourself from rejection by hiding behind a screen or a social media facade and ultimately cutting off your capacity for emotional connection in the name of not getting hurt. When you remain in a state of rejecting others to protect yourself from rejection, you stunt your growth and capacity for love. The results? A major deficit of acceptance and vulnerability.
People shape you, encourage you, challenge you, and carry you. So naturally, you want to be careful about the people you bring into your life. But maybe you’re a little too careful.
One of the most complex parts of making friends is chemistry. There are times in friendships where one person is growing and the other isn’t, so the friendship dissolves. Or one person is independent while the other is codependent. And don’t even get us started on couples friendships: you seldom find a set of couples where the husbands or wives didn’t have to work really hard at liking each other.
What are we saying? Well, chemistry takes work. We all want friendships to develop organically, but the best ones take time, energy, and intentionality. Listen to Heather and Jamie talk about the specific ways they keep their friendship going in this week’s episode.
Be open about who you are willing to be friends with.
Over the next several weeks, we’re going to look at how to make, manage, and mold a close, personal friendship. So, get ready! Slow down this week and think about the areas where you’ve said no to friendship and slowly begin to open that part of your heart back up.
Resources: In this episode, Jamie mentions Pete and Gerri Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy books. Check them out here.
Read more from Life in Motion.
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Every season, we set aside episodes to hear from YOU and talk about YOUR thoughts. In each episode, you’ll hear Heather and Jamie mention their voicemail inbox; that’s where they hear from you!
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