Being a friend is a difficult thing, particularly being a good friend. Being a good friend does not mean being a friend only when it is convenient, but when it is inconvenient. It means helping your friends and being there for them when they need it, even if that is not a good time for you, even if you have other things on your plate.
Being a good friend means cultivating friendships and growing them even when you are not together. It means being interested in the lives of others and loving them, and caring for their well-being. For me, it is sometimes hard to keep in great contact with a lot of people when I am away from them because I hate talking on the phone, but sometimes that is necessary to be a good friend. Personally, I have a lot of friends with whom I haven't seen or talked to for quite a while (years, even) but I knew that if I saw them we would have a great time together.
However, making friendship a fine art means keeping tabs on them, showing them that you care about them, and doing anything you can to help them. It means being there for them in a moment's notice, and knowing when they need help (even if they don't say it). These are the things involved in making friendship a fine art.
"The only way to have a friend is to be one." - Henry David Thoreau
Another important thing about friendship is that you are always looking out and want the best for the other person. This does not always mean being comfortable, or telling them what they want to hear, but telling them and showing them what you truly think is best for their life, even if they don't want to hear it. It might be tough, but that is what being a good friend is for. Sometimes we have to hear things we don't want to hear to become better people, and if you are the type of friend that can be the ones to say it, then bravo, because are on your way to making friendship a fine art. I can't remember where I found this quote, but we should all strive to be the type of friend talked about here:
"The man, who, being really on the Way, falls upon hard times in the world will not, as a consquence, turn to that friend who offers him refuge and comfort and encourages his old self to survive. Rather, he will seek out someone who will faithfully and inexorably help him to risk himself, so that he may endure the suffering and pass courageously through it. Only to the extent that man express himself over and over again to annihilation, can that which is indestructible arise within him. In this lies the dignity of daring."
Let us all strive to be the type of friend that will not push others toward safety and comfort, but rather towards someone who is not afraid to take risks and fail, knowing that that is what will help us grow as people.
No comments:
Post a Comment