Friends!
Friends, a hundred and ten, maybe more,
I’ve counted. How proud I felt:
I thought that on earth there wasn’t
A happier mortal among all mortals!
Friends, a hundred and ten! So helpful,
So careful with the rules of etiquette
That, tired of them, I slipped away
From their obsequious fawning.
One day I got very sick.
I was blinded. From the one hundred and
ten, just one
Didn’t break the almost broken ties.
What are we doing there? (they said)
If he is blind, he can’t see us.
– What one hundred and nine impavid rascals!
CAMILO CASTELO BRANCO
Our passage on Earth is rich in many different
experiences. Among them, we can highlight the feeling of friendship because
it may be in the origin of some of our most beautiful moments, and it can
as well cause terribly uncomfortable sensations and very painful situations.
It’s curious that friendship can be established
among the most diverse living beings, individually or collectively. It
has nothing to do with race, cultural level, social layer, economic power
or material interests. It knows no distance. It lasts in time, without
the intense and upsetting heat of passion, but with the strength of the
everlasting present.
How many of us find in the relationship with
a dog, a cat or a horse, a loyalty of attitudes, a reciprocal trust, a
prediction of the other’s desire, fulfilling that same desire in advance.
Friendship among men is capable of bringing
together people of the same sex and of different sexes, with the same age
or from different generations, neighbours or those who live on different
continents. It can motivate great and valuable actions, go beyond the limits
of pain without a loss of courage, allowing a greater capacity for fulfilment.
It’s also important to speak of the wonderful
relationships that can sometimes be developed among certain groups. There
are families who preserve the bonds of friendship for generations; sports
or entertainment organizations that develop preferential relationships
among them; even the friendship that is established between certain peoples,
like for instance, Portuguese and Brazilians.
Friendship is normally a tow-way process.
It may not, however, be reciprocated. Here it is important to point out
that reciprocity is not compulsory, otherwise it wouldn’t be desinterested,
as we usually conceive and describe it to be. Then, to avoid disenchanting,
painful and conflict situations, it would be wise for human beings to face
reality naturally.
In a friendly relationship, there is a lot
to receive and to enjoy. However, friendship is something you win
by giving, sowing and giving yourself away. According to the natural laws
that rule the Universe, how can we harvest fruits if we haven’t sown them
yet?
Many times man expects understanding, support
and friendship from those he hasn’t given anything to... Egoism, presumption,
vanity, pride, individual or collective, keep us away from reality and
create false expectations in us. Our meeting with reality is sometimes
painful, but only because we couldn’t think and act more wisely.
When we can be simple and modest, give everything
and wait for nothing in return, we experience the happiness possible in
this world.. We feel we have fulfilled our altruistic objectives and every
positive response that comes from others makes us happy.
And if we are able to overcome the painful
moments in a poetically beautiful way, won’t we feel fulfilled to search
for a balance of attitudes and for a harmonious and friendly relationship?
Then, to build strong relations of friendship,
the only thing you will probably need is to smile to your neighbour before
he does to you, help a colleague at work without waiting for him to help
you in your promotion, help an organization of public interest without
thinking about your own personal or family interests. This way, we will
create a nice environment around us, which will help us develop, among
other things, some true friends.
Get your own Free Home Page