The value of friendship

These past few weekends I’ve seen various old friends. And by old friends, I mean people who I’ve known for about 15 years – since I was a teenager and a fresher at university.

I am very grateful for these friends. As we get older, we might not see each other as much as we used to, but our friendship deepens. We’ve seen each other when we’ve been happy and we’ve been there for each other when we’ve been very sad.

Some friends come and go – I know I’ve made conscious decisions to let go of friendships that no longer serve me – friendships where I’ve felt that I’m not getting anything back. I believe we need to surround ourselves with people who make us feel good about ourselves. Our time becomes more precious and we must spend it wisely.

Many of my best friendships started out through drinking and partying. I’ve seen these people grow up, mature, and deal with some pretty heavy shit.

Who’d have thought. And that’s the beauty of knowing someone for any length of time. You grow together. Your lives interweave and become richer in the process.

Friends can provide opinions grounded in experience and an understanding of you. They can pull you up on inaccuracies. And they know way too many embarrassing anecdotes about your past (and they’re not afraid to use them).

I’m interested to see where the next 15 years take us. I know there will be plenty more laughter (and anecdotes) and probably a fair number of tears but you’ve got to have the lows in order to appreciate the highs.

Thank you to my friends.

In true friendship, mutual love produces a constant upward movement of the two souls. There is nothing in the world too precious to give to win a friend with whom you may tramp together around the universe of the sun and the universe of the soul.

Sri Ananda Acharya