The message that I received in my e-mail was not similar to any of the messages I had read before. What surprised me was that the author of the message had a distinct philosophical thought and a deep view of things, which made this message resemble a wonderful piece of literature, or let us say a mini-lecture on the philosophy of contemporary life.
The author of the letter says:
I was one of the people who loved social life, and I found my happiness in the abundance of friends, acquaintances, meetings, and celebrations. I was filled with joy when I received invitations to dinner and events. My house was open throughout the week to all my loved ones. I only breathed a purely social spirit.
When I was over 40, I discovered that I was living in a chaotic world in which interests were crowded and human natures were similar. Having a rare immune disease was like a rusty gate through which I entered to understand the truth of life. All acquaintances, friends and loved ones had gone away in every direction like grains of mercury. Social invitations had completely disappeared. No one knocks on the doors of my house anymore. My phone rings, its sound disappears except from the calls of my mother and siblings. My retreat into myself to understand these changes pulled me towards an area of awareness that I had been ignorant of all these years despite my deep reading.
I did not realize that our choices in life are responsible for most of the disappointments that happen to us. One of the most difficult things I suffered was that I was struggling with painful bouts of illness and at the same time struggling with my thoughts that were trying to break out of their old cocoon. This was not easy, being alone without… Support and assistance in the midst of this internal conflict. My new outlook on life paid a heavy price in a chaotic world that became similar to a supermarket. In order to get love and friendship, you must pay the price first.
So I learned that having many gelatinous friends is like the scum of a torrent and is of no use. So I was content with having one true friend in my life, and I no longer held on to any glass person who threatened to leave me. Rather, I began to say goodbye to him and made sure to close the door behind him and not leave it ajar at all. I learned to lean on myself more than before. Before, I learned that excessive kindness is a bill that is difficult to pay, I learned that indifference is an art that brings peace of mind, I learned that happiness is created within ourselves, not outside of it, and I became a believer in Edward Galeano’s saying, “A true friend is a friend of the four seasons, but others are summer friends and nothing more.” Most of them.
Poke:
When you choose your friend, make sure that he is, as one of the wise men said, “A true friend is the one with whom you quarrel every day and both you and him suffer from memory loss the next day.”
