When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.
- Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude
Now, I don't know if I was nodding because of the quote and the truth of its deep and philosophical meaning or because of the song I was listening to at the time, frankly I don't even care. What i know is that the quote had something to it.
So i went down memory lane, looking right and left on the small TVs that inhabit what I like to think of as Memory Lane (truth be told it could as well be my subconscious telling me to watch more TV - weird, I could swear that I heard a voice shouting "yes").
As I was watching the movies, some in black and white others in color (technology and all that progress thingy) it finally struck me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to duck fast enough and i got smacked. Who could've imagined that ideas can be such a pain?
Fact is that the main idea is completely correct; those are the true friends and the most valuable ones too.
Anyone can be a critic, mainly because the only thing you have to do to become a critic is to open your mouth and say I don't like it. Few people stick with you when you are criticized by others. Some run because they are afraid of being criticized themselves, others just lose interest.
Some just stick around and make you smile.
Everybody can give advice, not all can give you good advice, and sometimes all the advice, good or bad, in the world can't be enough to even take care of a little headache. Not many are the people who at least know when to keep their advice to themselves.
In the end it comes down to this, at least in my case: I met a lot of people, some made me smile while others awoke my interest, but the ones I value the most are the ones that I didn't notice where there until I finally gathered the nerve to look them in the eye.
The best friends are those who just are there no matter if it's raining or if it's snowing, the ones that wake up early in the weekend to walk somewhere cause you ask them to.
G'day & g' night!
Before I forget: :)
A true friend is someone who is there for you when they would rather be someplace else.
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