Bittersweet

Maybe our girlfriends are our soul mates and guys are just people to have fun with
– Sex and the City, TV Series

Sometimes the truth is bitter. Most times it comes from your best-friend. If she’s not telling you the truth, then check again. Your girl is probably just a shopping mate or chatter-box in gloomy days. A true friend will tell you the truth at all times. That is the one who loves you the most. The one who isn’t afraid to tell you to go see the dentist for a whiter set of teeth or ask you to get your tongue scrapped free of bad breath. That is the one who cares for you the most. That is the one who isn’t looking to take from you but is always willing to give.

She is the one you are quick to call when the chips are down. You know you’ll get what it is you need — help. One thing you’re certain not to hear is an outright ‘No’ or the ‘now is not a good time response’.. Also you know you will hear the truth. However sharp or curt, you swallow each hard-pill with sobriety. However heated the conversation may get, you reflect with gratitude for having being told the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

A friend who isn’t afraid to tell you, you’re being a jerk is the go-to-person of the season. She is the one who doesn’t mind the slightest to reveal her skepticism about you and how you make her feel sometimes. Whenever she’s unsure about how to react to your tantrums or spontaneity,  that is when she spills it, at once and without remorse. She must tell you the truth in love. And she tells it to you; not to ten thousand other individuals who rewrite the script in their attempt to be your loyal courier.

With her, you are certain you cannot hide and when you are desiring constructive criticisms about your choices so far, you know you can never go wrong by her. It is indeed, one of life’s most treasured gifts — a friend that is true, in season and out of season. Always forthcoming, always sure, always knowing what to say, always soothing the moment and when occasion calls, sometimes brash but always apt, and even when you try to resist, she never fails your expectation to remain true.

The truth also can be sweet — a candid interpretation of your person, flowing with sweet candor. Her frankness in telling it as it is, that you are beautiful and graceful, that you are kind and giving, that you are gifted, that you are blessed with many talents, and that you have got a large heart, can go on for days as the continuing dropping of honey from a broken hive. You are drunken in praises, you take the pleasure and bask in the rendition. You swank to the serenade that is your best friend’s gift of gratitude to you, for being such  a delightful being.

As a result, in every situation, however sour, you brace yourself to listen, you set your mind to learn from the rare occasion of being told the truth as it is. You lean in and grasp what is meant for you. You sieve through her words for keepers and souvenirs. You toss away any unwanted debris. You only take what is good for your soul. Again you have fine-tuned your filtering system and you are a better person for it. All thanks to your best friend.

You return the favor. You do so with strength and with sheer grace. You perform your duty to your friend and with a large heart you prepare yourself for the backlash when it comes. You are patient with her because you know it isn’t about you. You understand, knowing it is the sting of the sour tang. The discomforting uneasiness of the bitter truth.