Enjoy "Texas Friendship Day" (Aug. 2, 2009) with a Public Forum or Private Conversation about Friends & Friendship

The Texas House of Representatives-approved resolution designating Sunday, August 2, 2009, as "Texas Friendship Day," emphasized that this special day is designed to promote dialogue about personal friendships throughout our entire state.

Official information about the "Texas Friendship Day" resolution (H.R. 3132) that was approved by the Texas House of Representatives on June 1, 2009, can be found at either or both of the following links:

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/html/HR03132F.htm

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HR3132

Among the possible topics for discussion on Sunday, August 2, whether that be through a public forum, a civic group meeting, a discussion inside a church or synagogue or other religious meeting place, a personal conversation, or an E-mail correspondence with a personal friend or relative or member of the clergy, might be:

---Which qualities or traits or circumstances make for a successful or lasting personal friendship with another person?

---Using a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a best possible score, have you recently rated your own level of empathy and thoughtfulness and generosity toward each of your mutual-consent personal friends? Do you rate yourself as a "3," a "5," or an "8" in your own level of empathy and thoughtfulness and generosity toward each of your respective personal friends?

--In your own life, how do you distinguish between your own mutual-consent personal friends and, on the other hand, your friendly personal acquaintances?

--Do you agree or disagree with those who say that it makes sense to them to classify some of their mutual-consent personal friends as "high-priority friends," and classify other personal friends of theirs as "low-priority friends"?

---Do you respect and revere the legal and Constitutional right of each of your mutual-consent personal friends to set his (or her) own priorities in life, and to set his (or her) own course in life?

---Do you believe that true platonic (non-sexual) love can develop between two mutual-consent personal friends?

--Do you agree with the view of many Americans that a personal friendship with someone you are not married to must always be strictly-platonic (non-sexual) in nature?

--Do you believe that a mutual-consent dating partner or romantic partner of yours can also be a true personal friend of yours, and vice versa.

---Do you agree with recent medical findings indicating that having a variety of satisfactory mutual-consent personal friendships may be more important in protecting your own cardiological health than being in a romantic relationship with another person.

---When you choose to be a mutual-consent personal friend of another human being, do you strive to always be truthful and honest and straightforward and never conceal or withhold pertinent information from your friend?

---As a personal friend to another person, do you feel honorbound to share with your personal friend factual information or hunches you have obtained on your own about the apparent or possible source or sources of alleged slander or public disparagement or libelous statements about your friend?

--When you experience a major conflict with a mutual-consent personal friend of yours, do you strive to be honorable and polite and consistently civil and law-abiding in promptly addressing or resolving that conflict in an honorable manner?

---Are you aware that in hundreds or thousands of homicides and attempted homicides that occur in American society, the murderer or would-be murderer is later officially identified in a court of law in the United States as a "mutual-consent personal friend" of the victim.

---In which ways do you strive to help increase the number of freedoms, options, and opportunities in life for each of your mutual-consent personal friends?


--If your mutual-consent personal friend develops a noteworthy medical problem, do you as his friend pursue factual research on that subject in order to offer ideas to your friend on how he could obtain first-rate and reliable and full medical treatment for that medical problem?

--If your mutual-consent personal friend develops alarming medical symptoms, do you encourage your friend to consult a medical physician as soon as possible?

--Do you conscientiously strive to help your mutual-consent personal friend enjoy a full and natural lifespan as a human being?

---When your mutual-consent personal friends criticize you or fault you, what are they most likely to criticize you for? How do you respond to that criticism?

---Are you consistently constructive in your style toward your mutual-consent friends, so much so that even if you wish to offer them a critical observation, you present it in well-intended and very constructive or tactful terms?

--Do you attempt to refrain from subjecting your mutual-consent personal friends to sarcastic or scathingly negative comments or outbursts from yourself that you sense might be cruel and harmful to your friends?

---Do you feel more optimistic about life because of your mutual-consent involvements with one or more personal friends in your own life?

---Do you ever attempt to censor or restrict your personal friend's Freedom of Speech rights in any way?

---Do you strive to honor and protect your personal friends' privacy rights?

---Do you strive to let your personal friends know about possible career opportunities that might appeal to them, and that might help each of your mutual-consent friends to increase their own financial earnings capacity.

---If you obtained evidence indicating that a personal friend of yours may have committed a felony crime, how would you respond to that? Would you immediately urge your friend to contact a criminal-law attorney ASAP in order to resolve any such possible criminal-law matter as quickly and honorably as possible? Would you yourself always agree to remain a personal friend of that individual in a scenario of that type, regardless of whether your friend admits in a court of law that he committed a felony crime?

--When you offer advice to your personal friend, is that advice always in support of law-abiding conduct by your friend?


---How many of your mutual-consent personal friends are significantly younger in age than yourself? How many of your mutual-consent personal friends are 10 or more years older than yourself? Do you currently tend to exclude persons from any particular age group as prospective personal friends for yourself?

---If you are an adult person and any of your mutual-consent personal friends are legally classified as minors (under age 17, for instance, by state law in Texas) whose parents approve of your associating with those youths, which strategies or conduct do you pursue to ensure that you yourself fully protect the platonic and honorably law-abiding credibility and politely generous and confidence-boosting nature of your own involvement with that youth?

---Do you strive to offer some degree of kind and empathetic leniency in your expectations of conduct exhibited by mutual-consent personal friends of yours who are under age 30, it being the case that persons under age 30 are more likely to be led astray by others during that period of their lives, and are less likely to have established disciplines or law-abiding lifestyle routines that they consistently and diligently follow.

---Do you agree that a mutual-consent personal friendship means, by definition, that the other individual has the legal and Constitutional right to choose to reject you at any time, and that you are honorbound to respect that decision by that individual?

--Do you sense that you help to boost the self-confidence and level of optimism and level of cheerfulness of each of your mutual-consent personal friends?

--Do you strive to offer creative social-outing ideas involving yourself and your personal friends? For instance, do you occasionally contact your friend and suggest that the two of you meet at an art museum or history museum or intriguing bookstore or live-theater playhouse or restaurant that neither of you has ever previously visited?

--Do you remember the most recent occasion in which you praised a mutual-consent personal friend of yours? Was the praise you offered that day fresh and original, or, instead, a mere repetition of what you or others have previously praised that individual for?

---When you praise your female friends, do you find that you are more likely to cite physical attributes or personal-appearance per se in those words of praise? If so, have you considered offering words of praise to your female friends that relate to their career-related skills and talents, creativity, resourcefulness, ingenuity, intellect, originality, conscientiousness, honesty, healthy moral values, admirable empathy, or outstanding benevolence and generosity as a mother raising young children in her home?

---If you were to jot down a list of each of the words of praise for your mutual-consent friends that you have shared with each of them, how long and how varied would each of those lists be?

---Do you attempt to introduce each of your mutual-consent personal friends to other benevolent and law-abiding and conscientious persons whom you believe your friends might enjoy becoming acquainted with and might benefit from, whether personally or professionally?

--Do you yourself refrain from ever subjecting any of your mutual-consent personal friends to any anonymous communications?


--Do you refrain from ever subjecting any of your mutual-consent personal friends to any prank or criminal mischief?

--Do you generally follow clear and consistent criteria in deciding which of your acquaintances you yourself will agree to regard as a mutual-consent personal friend of yours? For instance, do you insist that any mutual-consent personal friend of yours who is over age 30 must be someone who permanently abstains from any consumption of marijuana or any other illicit drug in each and every year of that person's life after that individual turns age 30?

--When you get together with your mutual-consent personal friends, how often is that meeting and social involvement completely alcohol-free and illicit-drug-free for both of you? Do you ever sense that your cited "camaraderie" and "platonic intimacy" with your friend is all too often alcohol-induced?

--Do you smile warmly at your mutual-consent personal friend at least once whenever you meet him or her for a social outing together?

--Do you refrain from ever knowingly subjecting your mutual-consent personal friend to any fraudulent or deliberately dishonest statements or deliberately false warnings from yourself?

--Are you generous and kind in helping to foster lifelong intellectual and creative vitality in your mutual-consent personal friend?

--Which moral values or personal values or political or religious values or beliefs do you and your mutual-consent personal friend have in common with each other?

--Do you agree that the most successful personal friendships generally involve several or numerous shared personal values or political or religious beliefs---a substantial common ground, in other words---even if shared support for full Freedom of Religion for everyone on this planet is the only religious belief that you and your friend may have in common in that particular category, for instance.

--When personal friends of yours have rejected you in the past, which reason or reasons did each of those individuals cite as their reason for rejecting you? Is there any indication that any of your current mutual-consent personal friends might cite that very same reason, or a similar reason, for rejecting you in the foreseeable future?

---If you were to reflect on your conversations and E-mail correspondences with each of your current mutual-consent friends, what percentage of the dialogues you are having with your personal friends directly refer to sex or sexuality or sexual identity or romantic topics per se? Is it possible that the long-term future of your your personal friendship would be enhanced by greater emphasis on platonic (non-sexual) themes of mutual interest?

--How would you complete the following sentence: "I am good, kind, empathetic, generous, and helpful to each of my mutual-consent personal friends because...."

--When was the last time you got together in person with each of your respective current mutual-consent friends? Have you considered calling any friend of yours whom you have not met in person at any time in the last 60-day period, and then inviting that individual to meet you for lunch or dinner or breakfast at a restaurant?

---When was the last occasion when each of your current respective mutual-consent personal friends wrote and sent you an E-mail letter or letter or made a personal phone call to you on his or her own initiative?

---Have you been helpful to any of your mutual-consent personal friends during a period in which they were experiencing a crisis?

---Have you yourself identified any person or any group of persons who currently exhibit what you yourself believe to be harmful or injurious intent or criminal intent toward any of your own current mutual-consent personal friends? Have you directly shared your own factual knowledge or impressions on that with your friend?

--Are there traits you particularly admire in one or more of your mutual-consent personal friends that you would like to yourself develop in yourself, too? For instance, does a gentlemanly, elegant, and stylish male friend of yours inspire you to yourself become more gentlemanly, more elegant, and more stylish?

---Do you agree or disagree with those who say that women tend to be better and kinder and more honest and more helpful personal friends to each other than men are to their mutual-consent men friends?

--Why do you think it is that a higher percentage of women than men invite a person of the same biological gender as themselves to enjoy a one-to-one lunch outing with them in a restaurant or cafe?

--Do you agree or disagree with the widely held belief that "Men are too competitive with each other to make good friends to each other."

---Do you agree or disagree with the widely held belief that "You can't even trust your friends these days, since if any of their own values or goals ever conflict with your own, they will pursue actions that undermine your own ability to achieve your own goals for yourself in your own life."

---Do you encourage each of your mutual-consent personal friends to always consistently pursue a law-abiding and civil strategy for resolving any conflict or problem or crisis that your friend is having?

---Are you consistently polite toward each of your male friends' or female friends' respective romantic partners or spouses? If a friend of yours asked you to offer polite and, of course, strictly-platonic (non-sexual), companionship to his romantic partner or spouse during a multi-day time period in which your male friend is out of town, would you find it easy to honor your friend's request?

---What are your personal "pet peeves," when it comes to friendships and friends in your own life?

---Have you ever significantly wronged a mutual-consent personal friend of yours? What changes in your own conduct have you made to avoid making that type of mistake in the present or future?

---If you were to ever knowingly withhold very pertinent and potentially life-saving information from a mutual-consent personal friend of yours, would you be surprised if that friend of yours were to later reject you for that cited reason?

--Of your own current mutual-consent personal friends, which are individuals whom you have been a personal friend of for at least five years? If so, what do you think accounts for the success of that mutual-consent personal friendship?

--Is there any scenario you can imagine in which you might develop a conflict of interest for yourself relating to your continuing to be a mutual-consent personal friend of another cited individual? If so, would you feel honorbound to volunteer and discuss that conflict of interest to your personal friend? Or, instead, would you merely inform your personal friend that because of a conflict of interest that's developed for which you do not fault your friend in any way, you feel that you cannot continue to be his friend?

--Do you fully support your mutual-consent personal friends' legal right to enjoy full Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Association and privacy-rights legal and Constitutional rights, even if you disagree with many or some of your friends' political and religious beliefs and values?

--Do you ever sense that you often add to the anxiety level of any of your mutual-consent personal friends, or that you give any of your mutual-consent personal friends a headache? If so, is there anything you could do to help impart in your friend a greater sense of serenity or delight or cheerfulness or enjoyment from his or her personal involvement with you?

--Have you ever hosted any social party or social dinner party in honor of any of your own mutual-consent personal friends?

--Is there any personal friend of yours you admire so much that you might want to designate that individual in advance as legal guardian of one or more of your own children in the unlikely event that you or you and your spouse were to die or be paralyzed for life in a motor-vehicle accident?

--Is there any personal friend of yours who has been so consistently kind and helpful and generous to you that might choose to designate that noble individual as one of the cited beneficiaries in your last will and testament?

--Of all of your personal friends at present, which individual elicits the most smiles and the greatest quantity of serene laughter or delighted chuckles (as distinct from nervous laughter, for instance) from yourself?

---Of all your mutual-consent personal friends at present, which individual imparts in you a sense of the sublime beauty of life whenever you get together with that individual?

--Of all of your mutual-consent personal friends at present, which individual do you find has the greatest calming effect on you, so much so that you feel more dignified and more serene and more composed and more elegant after meeting in person with that very impressive friend of yours.