Friendship

Thinking about friends. Ana was talking in her Xanga about how wonderful it feels to finally have people in her life who understand that she needs different considerations than most people - overloading, etc. makes it difficult for her to enjoy things all the time.

I think it's important to have people in your life who take your special needs into consideration when planning events or inviting you out, and it's important also to have people in your life who challenge you to be more than you already are - to become and be who you were created to be.

I know I need that understanding a lot.

I need people who will, at the very least, *tolerate* my obsession with guinea pigs (if not encourage it). I know very few people understand my need to have these critters in my life, but I do. I need them the way we need juice - they don't keep me alive, but they make life better.

I need people who will notice when I am approaching overload and help me head off meltdown at the pass. This is important because I don't always recognize the signs in myself until I've already shutdown or exploded (or both).

I need people who will appreciate my somewhat special sense of humour, people I can have fun with, people who will challenge me to work through my difficulties and support me in my efforts, people who will comfort me when sadness enters my life, people who believe in me.