It was a beautiful day. A productive week she could say. Quite impressed with how she was handling herself in a new workspace. Being a newbie, she was getting to know everyone at this phase in her life. Like most Fridays, few of them gathered for drinks and dinner after work. 

Hardware Lane has some of the best restaurants, and Melbourne is the restaurant capital of the world. Period. The food there is unbelievable. No matter where you eat, you will find something that will take your breath away. 

Now, where were we? Back to the dinner with her colleagues. As they were chugging the lager and digging into the delicious platter filled with mouthwatering finger foods, they went from one topic to the next. They all shared their political philosophy, liberal, labor, or the greens to their preference for cupcakes to pastries. One mate said, “faith is everything”. Other, “spiritual awakening is the core”. Another expressed, “nothing matters, neither faith nor spirits.”

She is a non-believer and others challenged her, “who do you reach out to? Who do you call for help when you need solace? Or don’t you think you need to have belief in something? A higher power!”

‘I believe in my friends,’ said she with confidence. There was a murmur on their table. Some were shocked to realize she was an atheist. Others were scoffing at the fact that she thinks ‘friends are everything”. A handful nodded, ‘yes‘. A few had no reaction at all. A friend among the friends asked, “so you assume friends will be there for you always!”. 

“Not always. Not all my friends. The ones I want when I need them will be there for me,” she said with conviction. “I will be there for them too. In my life, I could always depend on my friends. They never judge me, those who judge are not in my circle. I believe, I can depend on my dear friends more than my family”. 

Friendship. It’s a gift. Finding, keeping, and having a good mate is neither easy nor difficult. It’s a mutual connection. To tell your friend, “you are right about that”,and, also to reach out to and point to them and say, “hey, that was uncalled for”,that’s true companionship. To call when you are happy, to share the embarrassing story from work, to cry your heart out when things don’t go as planned, to call and annoy, to travel with, to drink and be merry and to be yourself with…then there you have some genuine friends. 

Most of us have friends. A friend, many friends or hundreds of them. How many of us can say we have a true blue hardcore one who will stand with you and stand by you during your best and the worst? If you have one such friend, cherish them. If you have more than one, you are blessed. 

Friendship is easy sailing. It cannot be forced. If there is jealousy or envy amoung friends, it is not worth holding on to that relationship. A good friend wants to see you grow, a true mate will never make you look inadequate and neither talk against you, nor talk behind you. 

It is said, friendship is another word for love. A person who can make you laugh and also laugh with you and laugh at your cheesy jokes, who can be truly their authentic self with you without any mask or charades, then keep them close. Never let them go. 

To all friends out there…cheers.