attraction

A couple days ago, I was invited to a friend's house.  As I sat on the couch, the girl's mother sat down next to me and we began chatting.  She inquired about my living situation.  I told her that I lived alone and explained that there was a wonderful family in town that was just like family to me so I didn't feel truly alone.  She replied, "Of course you found this good family.  Good people attract other good people, bad people attract other bad people.  You're a good person, so you attract other good people."  Her response to that caught me off guard (seeing as I'd only known her 15 minutes, so how well could she really know me?), but it got me thinking nonetheless. 

Strictly thinking in the non-romantic kind of attraction-- what kind of people do I attract? What qualities draw me to others?  What qualities of mine shine forth to draw others to me?  What do my friends have in common?  What do my relationships have in common?  It's interesting to think about.  And even if I think about some of my friend's and the people that they surround themselves with, it says a lot about them.

All throughout our lives, we come into different spaces populated by different people.  We change schools, neighborhoods, jobs, recreational activities, and so on.  We rarely have direct control over who is in or out of this spaces, and in every space we have relationships with every single person populating that space (whether that be a close, polite acquaintance, awkward, stand-offish, or full of tension relationship with those other individuals).  Good or bad, there is a relationship.

Friends stand out, because there's something that attract the two people to each other.  You're drawn to that friend for specific reasons just as they're drawn to you.  And I would venture to say it's much easier for us to identify and name what causes us not to be attracted to someone for real friendship than to say what exactly draws us to certain people.  Anyway, it's just something to think about...