Define Friendship

I thought had occurred to myself in this last passing hour-

What does the term Friendship really mean ?

you can google the term and get a text book answer, or even heaven forbid pick up a dictionary and look the term up manually lol
"–noun

1.	the state of being a friend; association as friends: to value a person's friendship.

2.	a friendly relation or intimacy.

3.	friendly feeling or disposition. "

I myself hold my friends closer to me then I hold even my own family, some friends I hold even closer and even though they are 4000 miles away they are closer to me then any of my friends that i walk and talk with on a daily basis.

In my life I have seen friends come and go, live and die, however even though they are not here now they still remain forever smiling, I believe a friendship is more then being a "state of friend" it is more then a chance of a friendly feeling of disposition.
It is a connection that we will never understand or know what and why we are drawn to become friends with complete strangers, but we are, and when a friendship is formed it generally is for a lasting period that stands the tests of time.

A friend never allows you to go unadvised, they are there when all else fails and the walls of your kingdom are falling in, they pick you up and carry you in your times of need, a true friend will go to the ends of the earth for their friend, in some cases a friend will give their life for you without a seconds thought.
That is my understanding and my value of friendship.

It does seem like in today's world it is incorrect to have friends - it does seem like we all have mates (m8s) , and the ideology of what a friend should do for their friends has got clouded I believe - Ask yourself one question and then try to answer it - when was the last time you did something poignant without a thought for a friend of yours, possibly to the magnitude of life changing or consoling them in their times of need.

I have a friend and she means the world to me, I don't drop names but she knows who she is, however even after a long day with her worries and stresses she made time to to talk to me online until 05:30am in the morning, she listened to my problems, my past, she advised me and gave me strength when I needed it, she listened to me talk solidly for hours about things I have done, people I have loved and lost and blamed myself for, I am often talking to her for lengthy periods of time, this lady is like a mother to me.

So last night a very dear friend came to me with a problem, it had been a very bad day for him anyway, but this problem made it worse, so we sat and talked until about 02am and then I left and went to sleep on my other friends sofa, about ten minutes later my friend comes into my other friends flat and wakes me up as he really needed to talk more so we sat talking until he fell asleep at around 3am or later I didn't check. It didn't mater what we spoke about, mostly our aspirations and where we want to head to in our lives. I used that as a chance to get him to release his worries by talking to him and asking him the questions about where he wants to be headed.

My point is, to me a friend is someone who still remains; no matter how dog tired they are, or how much of a "bad" day they have had, they will always carry an open door and an open heart with a hand to help pull and guide their friend in from the storms and turmoil.

So the next time we stop in our busy lives just think "what have I done today to help any of my friends?"

before I finish up I will leave you all with two very poignant quote;

"Compassion is a two way street." - Frank Capra

and

"no man is a failure who has friends"

The last quote we all should remember in our darkest times of need, as it is very true we are not failures if we have friends.

And remember whether your a farm hand picking apples or a heart surgeon ; we are all equal and exactly the same underneath, and we all share the same common denominator-and that is the want to enjoy, live and Survive in life.

I will let you all go back to your busy lives and I hope you all have a good thought and enjoy your friends company as much as I enjoy mine