I stand here today to deliberate on a topic that comes in our conversations many a time. I will be speaking on FRIENDSHIP, and in doing so, I might echo thoughts of the past generations or the sentiments of this gathering, but in essence, it is but my own perspective at the end.
Friendship: some call it the largest ship in the world, poets have written muses about it, many movies have been made with its underlying message, and plays have been recited on its theme. We don’t need to go far to comprehend its true meaning; we see it everyday.
The Senegalese Novelist Mariama defined Friendship as, “Friendship has splendors that love knows not. It grows stronger when crossed, whereas obstacles kill love. Friendship resists time, which wearies and severs couples. It has heights unknown to love.”
It is up to our own discretion as to how we define Friendship. It means different things to different people. Here’s how I see it.
Friends form an integral part of my life. I’m like a log floating out in the open ocean without my friends. It is how we complement each others’ ways that complete us as individuals. We have been with our friends more than we have been with our parents or our relatives. I sometimes consider my friends to be closer than some of my relatives. Friendship is stronger than family!
Friends teach us lessons much more important and worthwhile than our books, and advice from elders. We learn values that remain with us for life; values like teamwork, honesty, competition and most importantly, being there for each other. It is said, “A friend has your back when the whole world has theirs on you.” Friendship is sticking there no matter what, through thick and thin, through calm or troubled waters.
Friendship is also the breeding ground for despair. We so often hear the phrase, “Stay away from Bad Company.” We take it for granted and never stop to ponder who or what is the Bad Company. It could very well be us in some cases. A rotten apple kept in a basket with other apples spoils the whole bunch. It is said, “Fate chooses your relations; you choose your friends.” To excel as the waxing moon or perish as the waning moon depends to a large degree on the friends we decide to keep. Be careful in your choices.
Sometimes friends disappoint us. Sometimes they deceive us. They don’t turn out as we had expected them to. I have learnt in my own life that by not expecting friends to be in a particular way or by not expecting too much out of the friendship, and letting go when the time comes, we tend to be happier. This is called unconditional friendship. It stands true even for love, because love is but part and parcel of being friends. When you love someone for the sake of loving and not to expect the other person to love you in return, you experience a different sort of joy. This is called Unconditional Love, the highest degree of Love.
Speaking of love, we sometimes make the mistake in between friends of opposite genders to misconstrue close friendship as love. They are very different altogether and we should have a fine line in between the two. We used to say, “Friendship can end in Love, but Love in Friendship, never.” How wrong were we! It works both ways and sometimes even hand in hand. How can two people be good friends if they don’t love each other? Love is there in Friendship and Friendship is there in Love.
Humans were never made to live alone. We are social beings. It is this secret that makes us the dominant species on the planet. A person will not die if he’s starved for a month but kept among other people, but he won’t last a week in solitary confinement. I personally hate being lonely. Only solitary people know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family—but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything. Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweetens it. Keep in touch with your near and dear ones, it goes a long way indeed.
As a global citizen I should point out that friendship between nations is one thing that ensures our very survival. The world would certainly come to an end if the friendship between Nuclear Superpowers sours. Friendship between Nations won us the two terrible World Wars and continues to do so in the modern world. American Tycoon and Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller said, “A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” It is this formula that ensures our continued friendship with neighbor
Someone sent me an SMS to me that read, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” So friends, keep the spirit of Friendship alive. I pledge myself to be a good friend to all of you and let us all do the same.
I know it sounds a lot like a Hallmark card..Lol..but that's just how I was back then..always believed in a good word!
