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A person's friends and thoughts determine that person's future
by Joseph Ernest May 27, 2011
Newscast Media HOUSTON, Texas -- Thoughts have a presence. It is possible to walk into a room and be able to sense tension, without anybody speaking. It is also possible for one to think one's future into existence. If you think you will never amount to anything, chances are you will never amount to anything. If you think you can rise above the odds, the same is true, as was demonstrated in one of my favorite movies based on a true story, Seabiscuit, in which the horse that had been crippled made an incredible comeback and won the race.
One's future is also determined by one's friends. If you want to become intelligent, spend time with people who have brilliant minds; their knowledge and wisdom will be transferred upon you through impartation. If one wants to get a glimpse into another person's life all one have to do is take a look at who is mentoring the other person. This is especially true for people in leadership or influential positions. However, to have true and genuine friends, which is a rarity, one must also be authentic.
Voltaire, the great French writer tells a story of a rich young girl who was being tutored by two Magi, and found herself pregnant. Both men claimed to be father and each wanted to raise the child upon its birth. The girl wanted her child to be raised by whomever would give the child the best education. After she bore a son, the wisest man in the land was sought out for his advice, and both men appeared before him.
To the first man he asked, "What will you teach the young lad?"
"I shall teach him," answered the first man, "the eight parts of speech, logic, demonology, what is of substance and what is quality, the abstract and concrete, and also pre-established harmony."
The second man stepped forward and said, "I shall teach him how to be just, and worthy of having friends."
"Whether you are the father or not," declared the wise judge, "you shall marry the mother."
As we've seen from the above exchange, it is of great importance for one to be worthy of having friends, because during that process of becoming worthwhile, one is trained and refined by the lessons of life itself, and in the end, what once was a diamond in the rough, becomes a true and valuable gem. No kind of education can teach someone how to worthy of having friends except life itself.
Cicero in his book On The Good Life argues that true friendship comes naturally, and since nature is the originator, and nature is everlasting, authentic friendship is permanent too.
However, Cicero also says that the most difficult thing is for a friendship to last until the very end of life, because either it ceases to be mutually advantageous, or people's political views change and affect their relations with one another. Another thing that changes he added, is a person's character; it gets altered, by the blows of misfortune or the increasing burden of age.
Scipio who was friends with Cicero also expressed the view that many friendships are violently, and often quite rightly broken, when one party has asked the other to do something that is wrong – perhaps to help that party gratify the vices, or take part in some other equally deplorable act. The person whose request has been rejected therefore feels the other person hasn't lived up to the laws of friendship, and often apt to put a stop to it, and indeed that creates lasting enemies.
This illustration plays out frequently in the political sphere. We've seen Democrats switch parties and become Republicans and the reverse is also true, when such a perceived offense occurs. It also happens a lot in the business world among business partners where one may attempt to induce the other into doing something wrong or illegal for the sake of the friendship, and if the other party doesn't acquiesce, the result could be lifetime enemies.
Friendship manifests itself though kindness and affection. We however live in a very materialistic world where the majority of people are fakes, and people allow themselves to get caught up in a whole host of meaningless things such as public office, fame, fine architecture, clothes, big cars or jewelry.
Most people in society are not prepared to believe a friendship can be good, unless it is a source of profit, or can benefit them personally. People will therefore attach themselves to others they feel they can benefit from, whether they expect their careers to grow as a result, or some sort of promotion or other benefit. It is the reason why some of the loneliest people in the world are those who are on top of their industries. The reason being, it is harder for people in high positions of prominence to know the true intentions of those befriending them or who have befriended them.
Because true friendship is a product of nature, we can conclude that good people are naturally attracted to other good people. Therefore only good people can make good friends. Add Comments>>
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