78. The OTHER "F" Word…Friends

This episode explores friendships. My son had a run in with his "best friend" and he was essentially told "you're not my friend." So wounded and so confused he felt blindsided by this. He admires this kid so much and truthfully this kid is awesome. I totally get why my son wants to be his bestie. But this kid already has a bestie who loves all the same things he loves, is lock step with this kid and it shows. My son shares a few similar interests but not a lot.

When I was able to share the "Capital F" and "Lowercase f" framework with him it allowed him to see that his worth wasn't dependent on the approval of this one kid. And that true friendship doesn't require constantly proving yourself, fear that they're going to ditch you any second, or any type of coercion to be friends. Real "Capital F" friends like you for you. They accept you, they enjoy being with you and they are willing to work on the challenging things.

I hope this supports you when you run into the inevitable friendship challenges.

(note: this was not my concept. I cannot remember where I heard this so if you know, please send me a message and I'll source them for credit).

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