The Doctor's Call

For some time the problem of identifying the differences between friends and acquaintances has dogged me.  As I see it an acquaintance is often thought of as a business contact, a waitress/waiter at the coffee shop or someone you see at your favorite grocery store. A friend is someone who sticks with you. As the song says, “Thank you for being a friend, thank you for being a confidant . . .” Yet in our fast paced world too often the two get confused. So I sat down and thought about what are the differences between friends and acquaintances. I also asked my wife, and some friends what they thought and below are some ideas.   §   A friend spends time with you, even when it is inconvenient. An acquaintance spends time with you because it is part of business. §   A friend will tell you when you have messed up in order to make you better. An acquaintance will tell you that you are great in order to use you for their purposes. §   A friend does not care if the...

No one experiences success alone. This is true in sports and life. There are always people behind the scenes who help successful people to reach their full potential. Now, you may be thinking that this is true of unsuccessful people too, and you would be right. The difference between the two groups lies in the character of those who support them.  Character counts and the c haracter of those who are your friends and supporters will directly impact your success in life. If you want to see what failure looks like all you have to do is view the Supermarket Tabloids or the gossip columns on the Web. If you want to see success look at who Champions thank when they are being interviewed. Most often it is a group of people that you and I have never heard of but who have supported that Champion, especially in times of adversity. An example of a successful team that supported a Key Man, is seen in the Bible. There was a guy named Daniel who had three friends that always supported him. In f...