Mi Amigo....My Friend...Mon Ami

Hello friends...its been some time since i wrote something here. It was a product of lack of good themes to write on and lack of time to write in. But when something interesting comes by, which catches ur attention, you tend to eke out time for its cause. Well same case here. You know how from the time we were little kids (well some of us still are...though we look older), we have been hearing that true friends are there with you in your troubled times.....and we heard about a fair weather friend who is there with us only during the good times...Well, I was reading Paulo Coelho's 'Zahir'....he has an interesting twist to the age old belief....he says and I quote "Our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer for us and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives." This got me thinking....which is true...There are people who are with you in your happy times...when there are all smiles around....life is just fantastic...they laugh with us....joke with us...and everyone is happy....And there are people who come to us when we feel that the whole world is crumbling beneath our feet...some come with sympathy....some come with strength...some come with understanding....I feel that the kind Coelho mentions is the ones who come to us with sympathy....to show how much they care and how sorry they feel for you...I know those kinds...like hyenas....preying on a wounded soul....But don't ever do the mistake of mistaking someone's understanding of your situation as sympathy...doing that you might just lose a precious friend. When someone is ready to be silent with you when you are not in a mood to talk, hold on to them...they are your true friends....You might be thinking how i am going on blabbering on about friends and what authority do I have to talk on this topic? Well....I am an Aquarian....we have a habit of using the word friend quite frequently....Whoever i meet becomes my friend....theres no other way to describe them....I once had the misfortune to hear someone being described as " a profitable acquaintance". In my mind I still have the word in "What the hell does that mean" category. My friends are one thing that I treasure more than my life....so looking for profit or loss from person whom you are friends with, takes the friendship out of it and makes it mere business. So when you know that a person understands you more than yourself, is there with you in your happy and your sad times...treasure them...they are gods gift to you for being a friend.