What make a good friendship? I have been asked this many times and after much contemplation my answer is “loyalty’. I have decided to craft an article around the word that I feel is very important to any friendship and of course that word is “loyalty”.
A friend’s loyalty is a wonderful virtue. When loyalty is missing other values will certainly suffer in any friendship. This is a quality that you should look for in a friend, as friendships can be very complicated at times, but loyalty between friends will hold the friendship together. When I am asked how deep does my loyalty go for my friends I always respond with this quote from an unknown author ‘if all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn’t follow, I’d be at the bottom to catch them when they fall”. You see I am loyal and darn proud of it. Remember a good friend is someone who walks into your world when the rest of your world is walking out.
Wasn’t it Huber Humphrey who said “good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.” If he did not say it then I will take credit for it because that is what I feel about loyalty and friendship. Do you have a friend with whom you dare to really be yourself? Do you trust her with thoughts that just about make you naked? Do you both say what you think (as long as it is genuine) and not feel on guard? Just knowing you are with someone who understands loyalty in your friendship, what a wonderful feeling that is. With this friend you can weep with her, laugh with her, pray with her and never feel bad about exposing who you actually are. Remember loyalty is built up over time; very few people give themselves the time to be true friends.
My mother always told me that a best friend is just like a four leaf clover, very difficult to find and very lucky to have.
Loyalty as it relates to friendship is hard for me to explain and I know that you do not learn what it is in school but I would offer that if you have not learned the meaning of loyalty and friendship then you really have not learned anything.
Aren’t your good friends like the stars in the sky? You do not always see them but you know for sure that they are there.
I leave you with a poem that I know and do not know who wrote it “I asked God for water, he gave me an ocean. I asked God for a flower, he gave me a garden. I asked God for a tree, he gave me a forest. I asked God for a friend and he gave me you.” Be loyal to your friends, and as always you must live well to be well.
