Friendship

There was a time when Whitney didn’t have a lot of friends. She was a bit shy and reserved. She never really wanted to be popular, but she did want to have someone to share secrets and laughs with. All through high school, though, she just slipped in and out of “light” friendships where she didn’t find a lot of comfort or companionship.

When it came time to go to college, Whitney was quite nervous. She was going to be rooming with someone she didn’t know and living in a town 300 miles away from home. There wouldn’t be a single person she knew in town. She had no idea how she was going to make friends in this new environment.

The first week of classes, something happened that changed Whitney’s life forever. In her English Composition class, she was asked (as were all the students) to share a little about herself. She told everyone where she called home and all of the other ordinary details that students share in such situations. The final question for each student was always the same: “What is your goal for this class?” Now, most of the students said it was to get a good grade, pass the class or something similar, but for some reason, Whitney said something entirely different. She said that her goal was to make just one good friend.

While most of the students sat in silence, one student came to Whitney and held out his hand and introduced himself. He asked if she would be his friend. The whole room was silent – all eyes focused on the Whitney and the hand extended just in front of her. She smiled and stretched her hand out to take his and a friendship was formed. It was a friendship that lasted all through college. It was a friendship that turned into a romance. It was a friendship that brought two people together in marriage.

Whitney learned the power of asking for what she wanted, being honest and taking action.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

My mother used to ask me what is the most important part of the body. Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct answer. When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, “My ears, Mommy.”

She said, “No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon.”

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer. So this time I told her, “Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes.”

She looked at me and told me, “You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.”

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was, “No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child.”

Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father cried. I remember that especially because it was only the second time I saw him cry. My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final goodbye to Grandpa. She asked me, “Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?”

I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me. She saw the confusion on my face and told me, “This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in our life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.”

She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, “My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder.”

I asked, “Is it because it holds up my head?”

She replied, “No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.”

Two girls were best of friends, since their childhood. When they were small kids, they used to go to school together, play together and sometimes even stay at each other’s places. They were next door neighbors and thus their parents were friends as well. The best friends graduated from school and went to pursue higher studies in the same college. Everyone knew that the girls were the best of friends. Nothing was hidden between the duo, because both knew each other inside out.

After some days, one of the friends found the other behaving in a very strange manner. She would remain withdrawn, sleep too much and turn violent, very often. At first, the other friend thought it was just the studies getting on to her. However, with time, she became even more moody and frustrated. Finally, her friend couldn’t take it any longer and confronted her with the problem. She broke down into tears and confessed that she was going around with a guy, who was taking drugs and forced her to take them too.

The girl was not only forced to take drugs, but was also forced to bring money every now and then and was threatened with dire consequences, if she revealed the matter to anyone, even her best friend. Shocked by her story, the other friend consoled her. She then thought of a way to help her. Finally, she thought that she would come up straight to the point and tell her to leave this guy and get out of all the mess. She contacted the college counselor, who was a psychologist and narrated all the problem to her. She offered to help and said that matter would be kept under wraps.

The girl was then advised by her friend to leave this guy, as he was torturing her unnecessarily. Her friend reminded her of her dreams of becoming a successful professional, inspired her to set an example for others and reminded of what her parents would feel, if they found out what their daughter was up to. After a lot of persuasion, the girl finally agreed to leave him. She was given basic counseling and was weaned off drugs, with time. All this while, her friend never left her side and always stood by her.

Finally, they graduated and the friendship only grew stronger. They both went on to become successful professionals, but never let each other down by indulging themselves into bad habits. They lived happily ever after, as close friends. The story leaves the reader to think about the depth of friendship shared by the two girls. The moral of the story is that true friends are those, who inspire you to become the best you can ever be. They have full confidence in you. They would not leave you until your goal is accomplished.

Long time ago in ancient Greece, there live a man named Socrates, who was highly knowledgeable and an esteemed philosopher. One fine day, a fellow approached him. That person told Socrates that he has some information to tell him about his friend. Before he could even start talking about his friend, Socrates told him to take a test known as the ‘Triple Filter Test’.

The first test of the ‘Triple Filer Test’ was the filter of truth. Socrates asked him if the information he had was the truth. The person said that he had just heard it on the way and was not sure if it was the absolute truth. The second filter was that of goodness. He asked if the information was regarding anything good about his friend. The man said it was actually the opposite. The third filter was that of usefulness. Socrates asked if the information was useful to him in any way. The man replied in the negative.

Socrates then replied that when the information regarding a friend is not true, good or useful, then why it should be conveyed at all. The moral of the story is that you may always participate in loose gossip, but when it comes to your friends ,it is just not worth it. You know your friends better than others. Therefore, you must avoid talking behind the back of your dearest friends. It only leads to strained relations and shows that you are not reliable or trustworthy as a friend.

Two inseparable friends, Sam and Jason, met with an accident on their way to Boston City. The following morning, Jason woke up blind and Sam was still unconscious. Dr. Berkeley was standing at his bedside looking at his health chart and medications with a thoughtful expression on his face. When he saw Sam awake, he beamed at him and asked.” How are you feeling today Sam?” Sam tried to put up a brave face and smiled back saying, “absolutely wonderful Doctor
. I am very grateful for all that you have done for me. “Dr Berkeley was moved at Sam’s deed. All that he could say was, “You are a very brave man Sam and God will make it up to you in one way or another”. While he was moving on to the next patient, Sam called back at him almost pleading, “promise me you won’t tell Jason anything”.
“You know I won’t do that. Trust me.” and walked away.
“Thank you ” whispered Sam. He smiled and looked up in prayer ” I hope I live up to your ideas…please give me the strength to be able to go through this..Amen”

Months later when Jason had recuperated considerably, he stopped hanging around with Sam. He felt discouraged and embarrassed to spend time with a disabled person like Sam.
Sam was lonely and disheartened ,since he didn’t have any body else other than Jason to count on. Things went from bad to worse. And one day Sam died in despair. When Jason was called on his burial, he found a letter waiting for him. Dr Berkeley gave it to him with an expressionless face and said” This is for you Jason. Sam had asked me to give it to you when he was gone”.

In the letter he had said: ” Dear Jason, I have kept my promise in the end to lend you my eyes if anything had happened to them. Now there is nothing more that I can ask from God, than the fact ,that will see the world through my eyes. You will always be my best friend……..Sam”.
When he had finished reading Dr. Berkeley said ” I had promised Sam to keep his sacrifice he made a secret from you. But now I wish I didn’t stick it Because I don’t think It was worthy it” .
All that was left for Jason while he stood there was tears of regret and memories of Sam for the rest of his life .

Lesson of the story: No matter what If we make a friend, we should stick by him till the end. Life is meaningless without a friend.

Group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

Lessons of the story:

There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. So be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand
that an encouraging word can go such a long way.

A Hare was very popular with the other animals in the jungle who all claimed to be her friends. One day she heard the hounds approaching her and hoped to escape them by the aid of her Friends. So, she went to the horse
, and asked him to carry her away from the hounds on his back. But he declined, stating that he had important work to do for his master. “He felt sure,” he said, “that all her other friends would come to her assistance.” She then applied to the bull, and hoped that he would repel the hounds with his horns. The bull replied: “I am very sorry, but I have an appointment with a lady; but I feel sure that our friend the goat will do what you want.” The goat, however, feared that his back might do her some harm if he took her upon it. The ram, he felt sure, was the proper friend to ask for help. So she went to the ram and told him the case. The ram replied: “Another time, my dear friend. I do not like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have been known to eat sheep as well as hares.” The Hare then applied, as a last hope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help her, as he did not like to take the responsibility upon himself, as so many older persons than himself had declined the task. By this time the hounds were quite near, and the Hare took to her heels and luckily escaped.

Moral of the story :
He that has many friends, has no friends.