friendship

Thinking Out Loud ~ It’s What Friends are All About – A Lesson from Aesop’s Fables

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Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Aesop’s Fable, The Bear and the Travelers. Aesop’s Fables is available for free download here.

The Fable

“Two Travelers were on the road together, when a Bear suddenly

appeared on the scene. Before he observed them, one made for a tree

at the side of the road, and climbed up into the branches and hid

there. The other was not so nimble as his companion; and, as he

could not escape, he threw himself on the ground and pretended to

be dead. The Bear came up and sniffed all round him, but he kept

perfectly still and held his breath: for they say that a bear will

not touch a dead body. The Bear took him for a corpse, and went

away. When the coast was clear, the Traveler in the tree came

down, and asked the other what it was the Bear had whispered to him

when he put his mouth to his ear. The other replied, “He told me

never again to travel with a friend who deserts you at the first

sign of danger.”

 

Note: A friend is someone we count on when the going gets tough. I have lots of folks I’m friendly with. I know and am friendly with all my neighbors. But who can I count on when my back is against the wall? I am fortunate to have friends who would drop everything and help me. I hope they feel the same way about me. True friends are the glue that holds society together. Life has its difficult moments for everyone. During those difficult moments a faithful friend offers the strength we need to grind through. I hope you have true friends and offer true friendship to others.

Poem of the Day ~ On Friendship

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On Friendship

Kahlil Gibran

And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
    And he answered, saying:
    Your friend is your needs answered.
    He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
    And he is your board and your fireside.
    For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

    When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”
    And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
    For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
    When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
    For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
    And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
    For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery us not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

    And let your best be for your friend.
    If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
    For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
    Seek him always with hours to live.
    For it is his to fill your need but not your emptiness.
    And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
    For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

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Thinking Out Loud ~ Love is the Passport

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The Silent Presence of a Friend is All

Saint-Exupéry in writes in The Little Prince, “He could not say anything else. He burst suddenly into sobs. Night had fallen. I dropped my tools. . . . I took him in my arms. I cradled him. . . . I did not know what else to say. I felt very awkward. I didn’t know how to reach it, where to find it . . . it’s so mysterious. The country of tears!”

NOTE: It’s not easy to console a friend when they are beset with grief, when they are crying uncontrollably. The country of tears is far beyond our reach. A friend told me, “Ray, depending on the weather all you do is shiver or sweat.” His words had an impact on me. Words are not necessary. One’s presence is what matters. Holding another’s hand or embracing another when they are overflowing with sorrow matters. Love is the only passport into the country of tears.

Photo of the Day ~ Friendship is the Best Gift

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Daily Inspirational Quotes ~ Here’s Hoping You Have Many Good Friends

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“Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there.”

—Unknown

Daily Inspirational Quotes ~ The Seeds of Happiness Surround Us

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“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

Khalil Gibran

Poem for Today ~ A Song

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A Song

Lucretia Maria Davidson

Life is but a troubled ocean, 
     Hope a meteor, love a flower
Which blossoms in the morning beam, 
     And whithers with the evening hour. 

Ambition is a dizzy height, 
     And glory, but a lightning gleam; 
Fame is a bubble, dazzling bright, 
    Which fairest shines in fortune’s beam. 

When clouds and darkness veil the skies, 
    And sorrow’s blast blows loud and chill, 
Friendship shall like a rainbow rise, 
    And softly whisper—peace, be still.

 

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Poem of the Day ~ Friendship

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Friendship

Henry David Thoreau

I think a while of Love, and while I think,
Love is to me a world,
Sole meat and sweetest drink,
And close connecting link
Tween heaven and earth.

I only know it is, not how or why,
My greatest happiness;
However hard I try,
Not if I were to die,
Can I explain.

I fain would ask my friend how it can be,
But when the time arrives,
Then Love is more lovely
Than anything to me,
And so I’m dumb.

For if the truth were known, Love cannot speak,
But only thinks and does;
Though surely out ’twill leak
Without the help of Greek,
Or any tongue.

A man may love the truth and practise it,
Beauty he may admire,
And goodness not omit,
As much as may befit
To reverence.

But only when these three together meet,
As they always incline,
And make one soul the seat,
And favorite retreat,
Of loveliness;

When under kindred shape, like loves and hates
And a kindred nature,
Proclaim us to be mates,
Exposed to equal fates
Eternally;

And each may other help, and service do,
Drawing Love’s bands more tight,
Service he ne’er shall rue
While one and one make two,
And two are one;

In such case only doth man fully prove
Fully as man can do,
What power there is in Love
His inmost soul to move
Resistlessly.

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Two sturdy oaks I mean, which side by side,
Withstand the winter’s storm,
And spite of wind and tide,
Grow up the meadow’s pride,
For both are strong

Above they barely touch, but undermined
Down to their deepest source,
Admiring you shall find
Their roots are intertwined
Insep’rably.

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Today’s Poem ~ Friendship

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Friendship

Sri Chinmoy

“Friendship openly persuades our minds

To do the right thing

And secretly convinces our hearts

To become the right person.”

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What if I called or text someone I lost contact with . . .

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What if I called or text someone I lost contact with, what would I experience? From my personal experience, I can say only good will come out of it. I rekindled friendships and discovered how much our journeys were alike. Everyone we’ve met on our journey is a part  of our life. Rekindling connections every now and then is a good thing.

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