In this week's Fantastic Friday post, we are once again celebrating friendship and being the kind of friend someone can lean on. We all have experienced times when we could not go on without help. As human beings we have dealt with all kinds of hard things, job loss, death of a child or parent, illness or even divorce. During those hard times some people come close to giving up, to surrendering to loss and despair. The thing that keeps may people from giving up, that allows them to hang on is that they have good friends that can be leaned upon.

The way life works in the real world, is that sometimes you need to lean and at other times people lean on you. We all need to set ourselves up so that when our friends need someone to lean on, our names automatically come to their minds. In order to be someone people can lean upon we need to be dependable, trustworthy, and discrete. By developing these characteristics you will increase your value as a friend. In addition, by being the type of person your friends can lean on, you are giving them an example of how to be that type of person as well.

When you are dependable, you are available when people call upon you. Dependable people are steady, steadfast and constant. There is no unpleasant surprise when dealing with dependable people. A trustworthy friend is one who will not take the information given by a friend in need and use it for one's own benefit. A trustworthy friend never uses secrets against the friend who gave the secrets. Discrete friends are careful about who hears and learns about information given by friends. A person who is a discrete friend will not spread information given by a friend, but will maintain confidences. Dependable, trustworthy and discrete friends  are friends you can lean on with confidence and security.

It is important to be the kind of person your friends can lean on because support is very important in a friendship. If you look back over life at the people who were there during your hard times, the ones you appreciate, value and call true friends are the ones who let you lean on them as long as you needed. Good friends let you lean on them and make you feel like in your leaning you are supporting them and helping them through life. So, the question for you this Fantastic Friday is are you the type of person your friends can lean upon?