"You Might Be Wrong" says the friend.

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 The evolution of society has conditioned us horribly. In the name of friendship, we keep our mouths shut to the atrocities of the ones we call "friend". Somewhere along the timeline, we have misconstrued friendship and have come to make it synonymous with supporting everything our "friends" do, whether we acknowledge inwardly the possibility that it may be cause more harm than good. We become either too afraid to speak up, or we cast a blind eye because in our minds we believe that the sustainability of our friendships depends on us never disapproving of any of their actions.

What if I told you, though, that the truest, safest and most secure friendships are woven baskets of "I do not think you should", and "maybe you should consider this further", and "you really need to take accountability for your role in this situation". What if I told you that the friendships which have withstood time itself stand on foundations of criticism that speak with love, to uplift and not destroy. Yes! It is certainly possible to maintain lasting friendships with people that we must sometimes be harsh with, yet in our harshness, there is the element of truth that supports introspection and forces our counterparts to grow. In growth, we become stable, we become rooted, and we rise higher above what could have easily been our detriment. 

True, real and unbound friendship is not beheld in the number of hours spent together, the frequency of meetings, nor the support and justification of everything that one does. Instead, it lies in authenticity, the bravery of being able to say "no", or "maybe it is not so". It lies in cognizance, in mindfulness, in the acknowledgement that there are egos to crush and in honesty that plants flowers of magnification of our friends' soul.

In essence, we must seek to use the word "friend" as sparingly as possible, for the ones who stand at your side, encouraging everything at the expense of your ship sinking, will eventually laugh when you drown. The one, however, who sees the rising tides of the ocean ahead of time, smells the imminent danger and encourages you to prepare your boat and wait instead of rushing to sail is the one you can call "friend". 

The one who dares and says, "you might be wrong", ........that my dear friend, is your friend!




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