Make friends

Make as many friends as you can, but keep only a few. Those few are your core friends.

Make as many friends as you can, but keep only a few.
Yes, I said that because you should:

Smile at the janitor when you walk into the office,
Commend the guard at the gate,
Buzz your WhatsApp contacts as much as you can,
Say hello to the man jugging on the other side of the road.

Make as many friends as you can, but keep only a few
I mean this because you could:

Pray for the people on your contact list,
Give alms to the beggars on the streets,
Buy food for your colleagues at work,
Tell your folks you love them.

Make as many friends as you can, but keep only a few
because:

You might not get the smile back,
You will not always get compliments,
You will sometimes be ignored by your whats-app contact,
The man jugging might just ignore you.

Not everyone on your contact will pray for you,
You might never get free lunch at work,
Your folks might not say, "I love you too."

Make as many friends as you can, but keep only a few
because, in the end, you are the only person who knows who your true friends are. Don't let the feedback and responses you get from the world change who you are or who you can be.
Some folks act sweet, nice and warm to you today and act bitter and cold tomorrow; don't let that change how you act to them.

So you will have many friends but be friends with a few. Those few are the ones you should keep dearly,

You know which friends to keep; you don't need a magic wand to tell who the friends to keep are.

There are not many friends in one's life, but when you find them, keep them, grow them, and let them grow you, too.

Originally published on 1/30/2017 at 9:10 PM.