by Ron Busby

Created on: July 12, 2008

To my way of thinking a friend is a word that is tossed around too lightly. A true friend is someone special in your life. My grandfather told me that if a man dies with one truly good friend, he dies a rich man. Sure we all have what one would call, fair-weather friends,' those generally turn out to be acquaintances when push comes to shove.

A true friend is a person that no matter when or why you call for their help they are on the way. Luckily I have a friend that I could call at 3 in the morning and tell him I just robbed a convenience store, hypothetically of course, and he would ask were I was, and did I need a ride? I like to think I have this type of friend because I am that type of friend to him. My point is simple. When all is well, things are looking good financially and socially. There seem to be an abundance of people on the fringe of friendship, still waiting to see if the ax will fall.

At the first sign of struggling on your part they are ready to cut bait and run, as they say down home. As long as it remains easy for that person to be cordial towards you they will. Only when something of themselves has to be invested in the relationship will boundaries be mentally drawn in the sand. Everyone, yes even you, have limits on what they are willing to invest in any and all relationships. Having a friend means being a friend. They say that marriage is a 50/50 partnership; I say a friendship is more like 75/75.

Having a lifelong friendship with someone of the same gender can prove more work than most are willing to do. People come into your life and the leave. This human experience we live is designed that way. What if, now follow me here, what if people were put into your life at particular times to help with specific situations that arise? Much like the blinders they use on race horses we too as humans wear them mentally. At a young age were taught to focus. See your goal in sight and do not let anything distract you.

Human nature guides us to make friends with people that enjoy the same basic interests. That is why you find artistic people hanging around with other artistic people. In theory there are circles of influence in our lives. The close circle is usually family and the likes. As our interests expand so does our circle of influence, as stated earlier we tend to seek out like minded people in our lives. So then it would hold true that as you enter the workforce you would be drawn to people in that same profession.

But a true friend, well that is a horse of a different color. I am lucky in the fact that my best friend and I have known each other since I was 6 years old. No matter how different our life experiences drastically vary we remain best of friends.

So when you pose the question is it better to have a large group, or a smaller group of friends? My answer is simply this. If you leave this life with one true friend then you have had a blessed life, a blessed live indeed. Having a large group of acquaintances to hang around with isn't all bad, but friendship, true friendship with equality, should not be taken lightly.

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