Social #6 - Friends

Entry 9

Friends... What are friends? Besides being a "person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations". In this day and age, the word friend is misused so commonly that the misusage of the word might have become its definition. Friends may simply be people you 'hang out with' or 'have fun with'. But the term friends has much more meaning to that, pardon my corny sentimentality here. Now, the well-being of a friendship is usually determined by the initial impact, the first meeting as so to speak, like all relationships. The impact is key as it determines the route of the friendship and what challenges lie ahead. The initial impact is like the trunk of a tree, it has to be strong to support a better relationship further on. For example, whenever you feel that you doubt your friend, you'll always have that good first impact with your friend and your initial experiences with him or her. From here, the route that the trunk takes you may have its bumps, but the strong base or impact will usually keep it intact. However, if the base or impact is not strong, then it only relies on the mutual feelings of both individuals. Both have to want this friendship in order to achieve it. The friendship will collapse if the bumps are not handled very well. However, the friendship will prosper with each bump overcame. Now, the ideal meaning of friendship would basically be the person that would 'stick by you', 'always by your side' and 'does what is best'. Which is what I believe most friendships should be about. However, staying by your friend's side even though your friend's side is the wrong one would make you a bad friend. You should always support your friends, but also do not let them stray from the ideal and good path. Before you begin to overcome the bumps, consider your own feelings towards that person before advancing as once you establish a better connection with your friend, your friend will constantly have those feelings towards you as well, so there is no backing out unless you are a bad person. Friendships can also be tools, in order to gain personal items or subject material, social status perhaps. Friendships such as these tend to crumble easily, and sometimes the eagerness to achieve those items may hide your true feelings towards that person, causing self deception.  Thank you very much for reading, I really do appreciate it. And as always, thanks for reading this wordy stuff.