ZenView
By Mary Layton
Friendship
To have a friend is a lucky thing. As Charlie Chaplin once said, you can buy a house but not a home, you can buy food but not an appetite, you can buy a bed but you can’t buy sleep, you can buy help but you cannot buy a friend. Rome was not built in a day and neither is friendship, it takes time to develop. Not everyone has the staying power to patiently listen to a friend and to stand by when the going gets rough. Friends are special people.
Being able to trust a person is important and it is the ability to trust that either makes or breaks a friendship.
In the I Ching, the book of changes, one of the oldest books in the world, the following is written about friendship: “Extend yourself in genuine friendship and not everyone responds to you in the same manner. There is a limit to friendship and this causes problems. Where there is distrust, there is alienation. Where there is alienation, there is deceit. Stand by your convictions and remain friendly. Others will see that you mean well and more clearly understand your opinions. In time, the relationship will deepen, earlier problems will be overcome, and friendship will develop.”
No matter the trials and storms a friendship has undergone there is nothing like the comfort of friendship. To be able to say exactly what is on your mind and know that even if you didn’t find all the right words a friend will sift through them, keep what is worth keeping and kindly forget the rest. Friendship for many people is the fuel that keeps them going, making survival easier and life more fun. Friendship gives us a sense of community and belonging. What would we do without our friends?
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