Absolutely true, and far too often difficult to find.

I've always been lucky in having close friends with whom I could be myself, but my former spouse started trying to change me pretty much as soon as the ring was on my finger, even though it was never going to work, and he would have hated it if it had. Sigh.

When people have asked me for the "secret" as to why our relationship is so good, it is quite simple, because we accept each other for who we are. No game playing, and if a problem arises, which is fairly rare, we talk it through. We've had maybe half a dozen "fights," if that, in the 11 1/2years we've been together, and those have been minor.

Finding someone who "gets you" is worth its weight in gold.

My parents always had a rule in our house that we were to take people as they presented themselves, to do our best not to judge, and to assume the best about them. And that has stood me in good stead over the years.

There is a quote by Woodrow Wilson that I used to love, though recently I haven't been able to find it anywhere. But in essence, he said that to approach someone from a position of friendship and trust, is to approach from a position of strength; whereas to approach with fear and distrust, is to approach from a position of weakness. I so agree.