On Friendship

        When I turned on the radio this morning, the song being played was Amy Stewart’s Friends. Voila! I drew inspiration from it, and thus, this latest blog entry. A friend is defined as someone whom one knows, likes, and trusts. I guess these are the criteria or qualifications for one to be considered a friend. In the course of our lives, we cross paths with different people and only a few, if not many of them, become our friends. The rest are mere acquaintances.

        Our friends could be our classmates, neighbors, officemates, et cetera. In other words, for two people to become friends there has to be something in common between them. We cannot start from scratch. We cannot start from an empty slate. There has to be a common denominator which will bind you together, a common niche where the friendship will grow and bear fruits.

        I consider friendship as a stress-free kind of relationship. No real demands. No real obligations. But despite the absence of such, friends know how to understand each other, and sympathize with each other more importantly. Real friends are those with this kind of understanding. Friends should be there for each other during the best of times, but most especially, during the worst of times. They may not see each other that often, but the bond between them is intact as ever, and ages like wine.

        But some good things never last. Here goes the pessimist in me! Sometimes, friends will have to go on their separate ways, and eventually grow apart. They pursue different interests, different careers, and different paths. Friends can forget each other. Friends can become strangers again. But it is never too late, to start all over again.

        I had a falling out with some people before. I know that sooner or later, our paths will cross again. The world is not that vast as it appears to be. It is a small world after all. And life is too short to be reminded of our misgivings…….

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a 

slow-ripening fruit.

                                                     - Aristotle