A True Friend?

Why is it that we spend so many years of our lives in devotion to people when we eventually simply get hurt and lose our trust once again? Perhaps it's that hidden desire to find the good in people and our wish to believe in good first impressions and the good of second chances. Or maybe it's a subversive masochistic streak buried in our subconscious. In reality, it's quite possibly a combination of the two.

In my experience, the company one keeps generally sorts out into two basic categories: the ones you become good friends with and the ones who eventually drop off the face of your world. Luckily, the former friends are right next to you when you're dealing with the latter losers. Sadly, oftentimes people who should fall into the first category, end up in the second category. It's times like that when I contemplate the true value of friendship and wonder why we continually take the chance of heartbreak when experience shows us time and again how frequent it can be. In my own recent past, this has happened less than usual, which makes each occasion that much more painful. And as much as we tell ourselves that this is a "lesson" to be learned, and that we will become "better people" because of it, we still wish it would never happen. But in this fallen world of ours, we can only dream of perfection.

Thus, in my moments of sorrow and despair over the human race at large, I thank God continually for my amazing true friends who are there for me at my darkest hours. I pray that, likewise, I may be there for them when they are in trouble. My greatest desire, apart from attaining Heaven even though I am not worthy, is to fulfill true Aristotelian friendship, giving all that I can to my friends as we support each other down the steep and dangerous road of life.

"A true friend is one soul dwelling in two bodies."

In conclusion, I suppose the real reason we continue to take a chance when becoming friends with people is because we know that, somewhere out there, we'll find those friends who are one in a million that we'll keep until the day we die. The ones with whom we'll share our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and failures, our hopes and our dreams, and the ones who remind us of the true beauty of life. So don't lose faith. There are amazing people out there who will not let you down regardless of the numberless jerks who mainly populate the world.