I don’t think I can ever thank god enough for the friends in my life! They make my life worthwhile in more ways than I could have ever imagined! In each phase of life, they come in different avatars – Parents, pets, classmates, teachers, college mates, siblings, spouses, children, colleagues… and many more. We make our own screenings and shortlisting and somehow select our friends for life. How we do that is a complicated process and I don’t know how it works.
Nevertheless, we always happen to bag the best J. The people who matter to us always keep coming back in our lives in some way or the other. Everything happens for a reason but we don’t always know the reason. Ignorance is bliss at those times.
I have been quite lucky that way. Touch wood! In happiness, distress, emergency or fun – I’ve always had friends by my side. That has made this journey called life meaningful and happy. The most important of those friends are the ‘being there’ friends. You know – no matter WHAT, they are always there for you!
If your spouse is your friend, life is a party! If your school/college friends like hanging around with you even in your 30s, you are blessed! And if you have the friend you always loved by your side even after horrible misunderstandings, god loves you!
Parents make great best friends. I am partial to mothers in this regard. Unwavering unconditional love is available whenever you need it. Family is perhaps the best example of forever friendships. So when we have really close friends- we call them family. Likewise, when we can open up to family members and share anything under the sun with them – we call them best friends. Friends and family have always been so passionately intertwined!
There are some friends who are indispensable- the ‘cannot live without you’ types. You want to share any happy moment in your life first with them. Or if something wrong happens, you look for that perfect shoulder to cry on. Regardless of how infrequently you have been in touch, when you want to share your story, funnily enough – you usually have the same pair of ears listening to you…smiling at your follies and loving you just the same.
Getting over unrequited love is perhaps easier than getting over severed friendshipJ. There are no expectations, no set patterns, no rules, no strings attached. And yet, the bond is so strong that it grows on you over the years. Even with strained relationships, if your ‘friendship’ is true, it always finds a way to come back to you after a prolonged hiatus.
Pets make great friends. I read somewhere- why is dog a man’s best friend? That’s because the dog loves you and licks you all over even after you left it alone all day! All that your dog looks forward to is the evening - when you come home to them.
Coming home to your friend- no matter how late in the day sums up friendship. Each time I realize that I have friends who love me for being me, I feel blessed.
I don’t know who invented the term ‘friendship’ or how this unique relationship was born. All I know is - I can never thank god for the gems in my life called ‘friends’.
