During the last weeks since I signed off from facebook, I had a lot of time to think about values. One of those things that I thought about a couple of times in the last weeks was “friendship”. What´s “friendship” today? In a world where you define somebody as “friend” by accepting somebody within a social community.
Isn´t that strange? I mean, a click makes somebody to a friend? A guy or a woman you know from work….somebody that went to the same school/university…somebody you met on a party? Are those people really “friends”? Don´t think so. Especially facebook is a master-piece how this powerful word is misused within the social-media-revolution.
Think about: You add somebody….first thing you do is to descide: “What can I show this person?” “Is this person allowed to see everything that I post? My last vacation pictures where I was at the beach and def. should think about loosing some weight?” So you start categorizing…if this person is so unimportant to you, and you do it only not to be unpolite by rejecting his/her request, you don´t let this person see anything at all. But he/she appears from that point on within your buddy list as “friend”.
In my point of view…we should put more value to this word. Because a friend is next to your family and your loved one the most important person you can have.
My true friends have the right to call me 24/7/365 … any time… and if they are in trouble or need support…I´m there. No matter what I need to do to be at their side. They can count on my me. Because I can count on them. I treasure them, cause of a lesson in life where I was in need and a lot of people I called friends turned their back on me. And only a few people stood beside…especially people I wasn´t expecting. From that periode on…calling somebody a “friend” has a meaning to me….it´s a gift I offer to people that I think are worthy to receive this gift. In the past some didn´t accept this gift…by their behavior…the things they said or did. That´s ok. It was worth a try…but thing is: you only receive such a gift by someone once…not twice…or more. Failing means: If you want to get this friendship back….it means a hell of work.
One of my best friend shared for 25 years now this friendship with me. Cool thing…we live miles appart…but once a year we meet both in a restaurant and celebrate this friendship. We talk about the old times…people we both know or knew…things we archived …things we failed…and all the time…over all those years. This day is so pressures to me that I push away anything that comes up…no other appointment is that important to me than jump into my car…driving all those miles…having a great evening.
That´s friendship…and a click on an “invitation” doesn´t even come close to this most important thing in life.