WHAT IS LOYALTY TO YOU?

What is your definition of loyalty?

I find it really hard to describe in one word what loyalty is. The dictionary says that it is a strong feeling of support or allegiance.

Loyalty is not about taking sides with people knowing that they are in the wrong or judging a person by someone else’s opinion. Life is too short to add people’s enemies to your list.

I take people as I find them, if my friend has fallen out with someone that is their bad not mine unless it was a life changing experience.

Loyalty is not about controlling other people’s decisions and opinions. The person in question could just have a personality clash or even brought trouble on themselves with their reckless behaviour. There must be a balance.

I believe that loyalty has many attributes, it is not just one thing it involves being faithful, honest, consistent in your actions, trustworthy, dependable, and devoted. The list goes on and I would include acceptance and true heartedness.

This is not an easy task, people have to earn your trust, to receive your loyalty and it works both ways.

Then there is the opposite of loyalty.

Deceitfulness, backstabbing, falseness, betrayal, unreliability, lying, lack of commitment and becoming a liability. The list goes on.

I have mentioned before about unconditional love which I will now file under the word loyalty.

My Beloved Father was a lovable loyal man and people were drawn to him like a magnet. He was a humble and very well loved and did not even know it. He never made any enemies. The people who chose to dislike him, I imagine, were the envious, ignorant and the irresponsible.

We all go through life making mistakes, some of us learn from them and others continue on this reckless path and blame others for their failures.

There must be a balance in the way we manage our loyalty towards each other, as it can become very much one sided.

I have always spent time together with the male species as I feel more confident and have always seen myself as ‘one of the lads’ I am not your typical girly girl. I grew up with a preference of playing football and climbing trees.

Growing up, I never had to put on a façade to be in with the guys, they always accepted me as my boyish self.

If you know me by now, I do not take it lightly being ignored, spoke over, intimidated, or humiliated in front of other people. I will fight my own corner.

As I have got older recognise the arrogance of some of the Alpha males, who seem to see women as just a trophy. Women need not open their mouth to comment in any conversation amongst the male species.

Believe me, some women find this behaviour normal and acceptable. NOT ME!

If a friend cannot stand up for you even in front of their friends, what kind of a friend is he?

Like MLK says “it is not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” That is where the loyalty lies.

My loyalty does not stretch in congratulating someone who is acting unjustly towards another. That is pure stupidity.

In everything there must be a balance.

Natalie Bleau

The Scripture of Balance.