Lessons on Friendship

These past few days, I’ve been so confused with the people and with the things that are happening around me. I do not know who are real, those with a sincere heart, those whom I can trust and those who wear different masks to cover the person in them. Fate has twists and turns. They say things happen for a reason and I definitely believe it is God's will.

Yes, it is the will of God because I’ve come to realized a few things in life and had learned some lessons from one of the most valuable gift from God, friendship.

Friends can be classified as friends for good times, friends for bad times and friends for life. To which do you belong?

When you enter the wondrous gift of friendship, be sure that you know its meaning, its value, its importance and its essence. You enter that kind of relationship not only because you want someone you can have good time with and to laugh with. Girl, if that is what you want, you merely want to have fun and not happiness. Friendship paves way to happiness - the happiness of discovering the real person that she/he is and happiness of revealing or opening the kind of person that you are. Friendship is the happiness of realizing and appreciating what is in your hearts.

Friendship is attached to the word commitment. It is a reciprocal kind of relationship. You benefit from each other. You help each other grow. You help each other to reach out. Do not appreciate what is only good in her/him. For that is not real friendship. Friendship accepts even the most disastrous attitude or behavior one has. Friendship embraces not just the strength your friends possess but you also have to learn to cuddle its weakness.

Friendship goes hand in hand with sincerity and trust. When one enters friendship, he/she should be sincere with his words and deeds. If you promise to keep a word, be sure to keep as it is and never ever use it against him/her when the time comes you both decide to end it. Friendship develops the meaning of trust. If trust dwells in the heart of friends, doubts and worries will have no room in it. If you trust, you know how to love and if you love you will also be loved.

Don’t love your friends because you need something from them. Don’t love your friends because they meet your expectations. Don’t love your friends because you share a drink of beer or a cup of coffee. Don’t love your friends because you have the same units of cellular phone or the same brand of shoes. Don’t love your friends because you always eat and chat in a cozy restaurant. Please don’t, don’t love your friends because you benefit from them. Love them no matter who they are and not for what they have. Love them because you have accepted them without any hesitations and simply because you want them to be part of your life.

Friendship involves maturity (in mind and in deeds). Always see the scenario. Always listen and then speak. Keep an open mind. Don’t jump into conclusion. Widen your understanding and learn from your mistakes. Do not judge others if you don’t want them to judge you, too. Remember the golden rule? Keep the lines of communication always open. If there is something that is bothering you, always voice it out. Directly confront your friends if you want to clarify things and never believe in hearsays.

Sad to say but I was surrounded by a very deceiving people, or friends should I say who wear different faces everyday. It is painful to say that once I thought I found a lifetime friendship. A friend I considered a family. A friendship I treasured and valued a lot. A friendship I fought from beginning to the end over a lot of people who have false judgment. But now it is a friendship ruined by false allegations of a rigid level of understanding.

Friendship is tested by time. It will be attacked by a range of dilemmas, problems and challenges. Remember, the weather of friendship is not always a sunny day. But, if genuine friendship prevails, no matter how heavy the storm is, it will always stand firm and strong.

I lost one friendship but the door was opened and a new one came. I won’t say that it’s for life now, but I will always give the best to make it grow in maturity and love.

I lost one, I gained another but there are still a few friends left. Learning from the past mistakes, I will start a new with them with new hopes and new dreams.

I lost one, I gained one, a few others are left, and most of all, I’ll make stronger the foundation of a friendship to someone who has long been there, long been kept and long been treasured. God make His way, He permits things to happen. I am thankful and grateful for making me closer to a special friend who is always a part of my life.

Friendship no matter how far the distance, how busy the lines of communications are and how complicated life may be, when founded and rooted in hearts that is always willing to sacrifice and to love, remains friends till the end.

Painful and difficult it may sound, in life, sometimes we have to learn the art of letting go. To free our minds and our hearts, we simply have to let go of the things that once had meaning in our lives. Don’t hold on to a thing that is unworthy of your time. Life is journeyed forward and not backward.

I only have a few friends. I have two best friends, a number of special friends and some close friends. I can count them in my fingers but I am happy and glad having them because I believe we have shared various things that helped us make a better person and moments that strengthen our friendship. Life is beautiful and God is good, remember that!