Friendship

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. "
Japanese Proverb

An interesting week with many new discoveries. It is said that stress occurs when the perceived demands exceed the perceived resources. The pace of demands does not let up, but there is much scope for increasing the resources that can be brought to bear. The basic resources are Time, Energy and Money, but to that I would add Knowledge, Attention and Relationships (TEMKAR). All of these can be nurtured to enrich your life materially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. In future postings, we will explore these in more detail.

Let's briefly focus on Relationships today, and specifically, the type of relationship called Friend. What is a friend and why do we have them? I will let the quotations at the end of this posting answer this, but the themes that emerge are around sharing and support as well as company. Keeping good company is a critical facet of your well-being and the Japanese proverb strikes a powerful chord. Take a good look at your friends and see what they reveal about you...

"Never explain--your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. "
Elbert Hubbard, US author (1856 - 1915)

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. "
Dale Carnegie

"All people want is someone to listen. "
Hugh Elliott, Standing Room Only weblog, May 8, 2003Author of the Standing Room Only Weblog (http://blogs.salon.com/0001573/).

"Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren't bad people; they're just acquaintances. "
Jay Leno, US comedian & television host (1950 - )

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends. "
John Churton Collins