Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Little Ways to be a Better Friend

So I was reading in Glamour magazine last night about life, love, fashion, stars, books, etc and I came across an article titled, "6 Little Ways to be a Better Friend".  Here's two I wanted to share (thanks Lauren Bradshaw).

Be Cash-Conscious - In this economy it pays to be sensitive to her budget when making plans or divvying up a check.  It's also a great time to be resourceful with what you already have.  I'm gifting some of my frequent flier miles to a friend so she can visit her family overseas.

I love this.  This related so much to what Mer and I have been talking about recently and working at when we're together.  Not so much sending each other overseas but about how to be a cash-conscious friend in these economically trying times.  As I've learned more about finances over the last few months I've tried to encourage several of my friends to pursue the same interest.  Helping my friends become financially stable has been a rewarding endeavor and I'm taking a large amount of pride in the successes I'm seeing them have.  Having the benefit of starting out ahead of the game - I'm trying to find creative and constructive ways to contribute to my friends financial success.

Look out for her - even when she's not looking - Talk her up, tag only flattering pictures of her, and in general show the same thoughtfulness Bellows (author of The Fun Book for Girlfriends) does when she shops the sale racks: "I always check for my friends' sizes, too.  I just found one a great J. Crew sweater!"

I like this in contrast to a quote I read last night in my latest book, "The Queen of Babble in the Big City" which reads, "To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends" - Benjamin Franklin.

Ouch.  

Bennie has a good point though.  If you start saying nice things about a girl to one of her friends, so often they start dishing dirt.  Why is that?  Why are we so programmed to think that someone else's success is our failure?  Even with friends!  And so I like this step to being a better friend because it challenges us to build up and promote our friends instead of tear them down in an attempt to make ourselves feel better!  I do not wish to succeed at the expensive of my friends but to enjoy my success along side them as we figure things out together.

Who says you can't learn anything valuable from Fashion Magazines?

Love,
B

No comments:

Post a Comment

 
20sb