Having good friends is amazing. I love having people I can sit and talk to - people who want to sit and talk with me for as long as time permits. We talk about dating, and Church, and work, and life, and everything from psychology to art to science to math to music. We laugh so hard that our faces and stomachs hurt, and throughout the day we remember each other while we're cooking or studying or writing a paper... and then tell our respective stories when we meet up again, starting over from where we left off without a hitch.

I haven't always had a group of good friends I could turn to. For most of my life, I played the part of an introvert. I was totally and completely alone, and I was ok with that. I was just a private person. No one understood me, and no one needed to - God understood me and that was enough. But being attracted to guys is an isolating experience... one that can easily make me feel alone even among the people who love me... because, even though they may try, they can never understand what I am going through.

As I struggled with feeling so incredibly alone, I turned to God for help. His first answer helped me realize that there were people around me who felt the same way. Granted, they weren't guys attracted to guys, but there were girls who struggled with depression, guys who had broken up with a girlfriend, and just normal people who felt alone in a crowd. I had asked God for help in overcoming my loneliness, and He told me to reach out to others. I was expecting someone to reach out to me. It doesn't work that way.

So I developed the skills and ability to reach out - to focus my life on others and help them to feel loved. And, slowly, my own needs were met as I helped others. I felt less alone. I found happiness in helping others feel loved. And I found good friends as I tried to be a good friend myself.
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