You went to school with 2000 other students or maybe more, for 14-15 years. Go back and remember how many friends did you actually make in those 14 years? Maybe just a handful of friends, whom you sat and fought with, felt jealous of or competed with, or you blamed or praised them. You got entangled with them. This way, our life remained limited. We remained cooped in our tiny wells. But there are thousands of people, there is this vast ocean of humanity in front of you to befriend!
If we can make one new friend every day, our whole perspective about the world will change and our minds will open up. This is not difficult to do, if you are steady and centered within. You just need to take that one step and stretch out your hand first.
The way to move ahead in life is to be friendly. Would you like to work with somebody who is always irritable, egotistic and nasty to you? Here you need to reflect upon yourself too. Are you angry, irritable and nasty to others? If so, you need to meditate every day, just for few minutes. With regular meditation you will see your vibrations change, you exude friendly vibrations and people love your company. Make as many friends as you can and keep inspiring them to have a bigger vision towards life.
How to be a good friend?
Do not give too much importance to words. Learn to see beyond them. Often you say something you do not mean. What if people hold onto your words and don't see beyond them. Would you like it? You want them to see the truth that lies beyond the words.
Those who are connected with others through words alone cannot be good friends. Those are superficial bonds. The sign of a civilised, cultured person is they don’t just latch on to what others say and keep harping on them.
Friendship for a Cause
Friendship that is based on fulfilling each other’s’ needs, does not last. But when you come from a space of sharing and caring, the whole world is willing to befriend you. Tell your friends, ‘I am here for you I don’t want anything from you other than your friendship’. That will make your friendship long-lasting. Courageous are those who nourish friendships for only friendship’s sake. Such friendships do not die not die, nor do they sour because they are simply born out of one’s friendly nature. Only through wisdom can one uncover one’s friendly nature.
Litmus test for friendship
Lastly, how do you know if you are a good friend or someone else is a good friend? When you go to a friend with a problem, if you walk away from them feeling lighter and more positive, then know you are in good company.
