I had a really long blog here, but after reading through it, I realized I could sum it up in a couple paragraphs. Outside of places where you have no control over the people you're around (ex. work, church, public retail locations), if you're around someone and they don't make you smile as soon as you see them, ask yourself this question: "If this person was no longer in my life, would I care?" If the answer is no, it may be time for you to remove yourself from that person's social circle. If the answer is yes, make it known that you like/love this person and really appreciate him/her. There are certain folks in my life that I light up when I see them. I could hang out with them all day and never get tired of them (my mother, my grandfather and my four-legged, non-human friend Faith are at the top of this list). There are others who I don't necessarily see all the time, but even if we bump heads from time to time, I'm still happy to see them the next round. There are those who I'm totally crazy about but don't see enough (location is the only factor).

And then there are those who I cringe every time I see them no matter how long it's been since I last saw them or how far/close they live. So I stopped. You realize how very quickly your mood improves when you remove yourself from folks who make you miserable. Whether it's family you feel obligated to hang with because you share blood or friends because you grew up with them and used to be cool, the million dollar question is, "Do I want to be around you now?" If you don't, don't. If you do, do. And if you don't know, it might be time to have a talk with this person to see if you can at least improve the relationship so you can put him/her on that smile list. If it doesn't work, at least you can say you tried before you burned that bridge.