True friendship is a virtue that is related to love; one loves one who is appreciated in a reciprocal relationship.
When we need advice, support, we turn to those who seem to us to live and know the virtues, to those who love us and wish us well, to those who can guide us with sincerity. In this sense, friendship is an indispensable relationship between people, it is the firm support for our lives and it is a necessary complement to achieve happiness.
Friendship is not the same as comradeship
True friendship is one that supports us to improve in kindness and virtue. It is the one that strengthens our humanity and our desire for change and constant improvement.
Seeing the celebrations of the day of friendship and the amount of good feelings and motivational messages that are sent to each other, I found it interesting to think about friendship and differentiate it from what it is not.
Friendship demands affinity, that is, a similarity between various characteristics and in what both appreciate and seek. Some friends may seem very different, but they develop a strong affinity in certain areas that commits them to each other.
But friendship is not just affinity. It requires personal treatment and the development of a relationship of affection. Friends love each other and therefore wish each other well. Therefore, friendship entails a commitment, a decision. That is why it is also an act of the will.
This is where we must analyze what kind of friends we have and want. The friendship relationship cannot be liquid, that is, it cannot be indifferent. The friend feels the bad and the good of the other and is willing to help him if necessary. Who does not have that disposition, is not a friend, even if he has affinity and closeness.
Friendship should not remain in camaraderie either because, although it is a necessary element, it is not enough. Friendship goes beyond camaraderie to take an interest in the other and, if necessary, leads us to commit ourselves to call the other’s attention firmly and affectionately; indeed, true friends take that kind of risk.
True friends do not tolerate bad actions
Today, in the era of a misunderstood “tolerance”, we could fall into the error of being silent in front of our friends; we refrain from intervening and warning of the dangers and risks of a certain conduct. That could lead us to indifference, which is precisely the opposite of friendship. If we are not interested in supporting our friend to get better, if his life is not important to us, then we are simply not true friends.
It is true that we must respect others and, above all, our friends when we accept the legitimate differences we have with them. But friendship forces us to give our opinion about what we consider is being done wrong, so as not to fall into indifference, which would deny our friendship and transform us into insensitive people and even useless “partners”. It would turn us into selfish comrades, who would only be interested in a pleasant relationship, without any commitment or commitment.
Actually, indifference offers no support or help. What would we think of someone who saw us make bad decisions, act incorrectly, and who did not warn us of the risk we faced?
People always have the opportunity to change and improve, and friendship is the strongest and most reliable support in this task. That is why friendship is a virtue that is strengthened by constant and sincere treatment, it manifests itself in affection, in the support of one another, but it definitely does not manifest itself in disinterest or indifference.
In essence, friendship entails a commitment to who we love and that necessarily involves us. Friendship commits us and drives us to be better but together, not alone.
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