Quote: Friendship

“Psychologists have long described four major types of friendships: 1) The acquaintance, someone you’d chat with on the street or at a local café, who gives you a sense of belonging; 2) the casual friend, a ‘grab lunch’ pal who often serves a specific purpose, such as a tennis or running partner; 3) the close buddy, an intimate, trustworthy comrade you can say anything to; and 4) the lifer, who’s as deep and forever as family.” [Valerie] Frankel’s research found that women should have 3 to 5 lifers, 5 to 12 close friends, 10 to 50 casuals, and 10 to 100 acquaintances.

Valerie Frankel’s words in an excerpt from MWF seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

Quote: Quit

Quit Stuff …to give yourself room to grow and to give God room to work. The patterns of life can weigh down and hold back. Quitting things forces you forward to explore new opportunities, to try new things you wouldn’t have time for otherwise and to fill your life with things that are fresh, different and dangerous.

Bob Goff in a recent article in Relevant Magazine

I can’t quite decide what to think about this. Goff apparently goes to extreme measures and quits something every Thursday—leases, jobs, furniture, board positions, volunteering. While that’s a bit too much for me, I think there’s some wisdom behind this idea. In a lot of ways, that’s what happened when we moved. Is it time to quit something already?

Quote: Maximizers

Satisficers are those who make a decision or take action once their criteria are met. That doesn’t mean they’ll settle for mediocrity; their criteria can be very high, but as soon as they find the hotel, the pasta sauce, or the business card that has the qualities they want, they’re satisfied. Maximizers want to make the optimal decision. Even if they see a bicycle or a backpack that meets their requirements, they can’t make a decision until after they’ve examined every option, so they can make the best possible choice.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Recognize yourself in one of those? We are both maximizers to a “t” and reading it out loud was almost scary. It did explain our compulsive need to check reviews on even most mundane objects all the way up to the bigger decisions, like where to live.

Quote: Who I Am

I have an idea of who I wish I were, and that obscures my understanding of who I am actually am. Sometimes I pretend even to myself to enjoy activities that I don’t really enjoy, such as shopping, or to be interested in subjects that don’t much interest me, such as foreign policy. And worse, I ignore my true desires and interests.

Excerpt from The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin