Visitors

​It amazes me the different companions I meet along the way.  Mostly I share company with Encouragement and Joy and Peace.
But every now and then I have an unexpected visitor.  His name is Discouragement.  When I say unexpected that is exactly what he is.  Normally Goals, Diligence and Faith come around but when Discouragement comes over he can knock really loudly or sometimes so softly I answer the door because I wonder if someone is there at all.  His arrival time is uncanny.  He comes normally when I have just discovered Unrealistic Expectation was lurking in the house the whole time.  It never takes long but I discover Failure is there too.
After a while Failure does all the talking.  He lets me know in no uncertain terms that I have blown it.  That I will never amount to anything.  Thing is, he makes himself right at home.  He is the one who answers the door and it is always more mates of his.  Self-Pity and Why Bother.  We sit around the table having a cup of tea and they do all the talking.  What they say is true.
To do what I have in mind is beyond me.  They tell me about another mate of theirs I should meet.  Defeat.  It is like Self Pity and Why Bother soften me up.  Failure nods in agreement and suggests this hope of mine is a bridge too far.  Eventually he puts an end to the conversation and suggests we all go and see what Defeat is up to.
It is really only then I think “hang on a minute.  What sort of a dodgy operation is this?”  I have spent time with Defeat before.  What he has I mind to do always looks great and often it is at first.  I get involved and I do it, but the funny thing is it is never the same the second time around.  What he has in mind is definitely way easier, but there has never been a time I have gone with him and not regretted it.  I have gone willingly with him before to a place he has and after I get in, I find there are no exits.  I’m trapped.
It is then I find out who my real friends are.  Failure disappears.  No good asking him for help because he does not want the best for me and anyway has gone off somewhere.  I thought the way he was acting was strange.  Almost like his work was done.
I use my mobile and call Faith, Hope and Love.  It always astounds me how they willingly drop everything and trace my call.  Good thing they can get in when I cannot get out.  I must admit I am always really pleased to see them.  They always bring along someone else to.  Encouragement.  It is generally at that point I realize they are really the ones I want to spend time with.
I go with them back to my place and love that I can spend time with them and there are no clauses in tiny writing in our relationship that bring me down.  On the contrary.  I see why each is called what they are.  My place seems welcoming again.
But what to do with the visitors in the house?  Discouragement, Unrealistic Expectations and Failure.  I give them the boot.  For sure they are not happy about it, but they are not my friends. 
I invite Faith, Hope and Love in.  I love their visits.  I boil the kettle.  They are the mates I want.