On Friendship

On Friendship

I will speak short about real friendship. Not the exalted feeling, or a hyperbole. Not the kind mixed with infatuation, or the kind that burns hot.

Real friendship is born from an immediate spark. There is a sense, as soon as you meet this person, that they are important, and will be in your life for a very long time. There is a shared activity, be it bonding over child's play, or a love for math, or a love for science, or a love for philosophy. And receiving this impression, one uniquely bonds over this shared activity.

If it is a spouse, a wife or husband, make sure this activity is not physical. But, the same applies to a mate, you must immediately impress upon yourself the importance and gravity of this person.

And then understand, there will be fights. There will be war among you sometimes. There will be disappointments. There will be calculations, there will be cunning victories won on battlefields of the mind. But, there will also be sweet moments of tender reconciliation.

As, the friend is there for a lifetime. Not merely for a moment. And if you have two or three of them, you have done well and lived well. If this person is your mate, or spouse, then you have won the gift and treasure of life.

And you will separate at times, being hot and cold toward one another. There will be thoughts of deception, of some great competition with this person. That you must best them at a sport you do not quite understand. But, then you separate, and reconcile, and the friendship is renewed.

The friend knows you, so when you change slightly, or are different, they will know your soul, therefore it will not impress upon them that you are a different kind of person, but are the same friend they always knew, with a new perspective on life. You will have changing perspectives, and challenges with this person, and respect them. The friend knows you, and you know them, so when they change, you respect them, and see the person you always knew. Not merely the veneer of opinions and tastes, but rather the soul  you were knit with.

It is a rare thing, to find a friend. And sometimes, a friend will separate from you for a short season, and then reunite with you. And you will be honest toward them, and they you, and the nighttime is over, and the sweet conciliation is met with affection.

For a friend doesn't leave you. Years worth of not speaking, opinions changing like the winds and seasons, you still will see the person they always were, and always have been. And there is your friend. Keep at peace with them, and do not forsake them.