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

the world has gone mad

Ok where to begin with this one lol

I grew up in a generation of people that for the most part are reasonably thoughtful and mild mannered - even after surviving and growing up in Thatchers years, I remember my youth with not exactly fond memories but they were memories, Every single one of friends including myself were taught to say thank you and please, as and when required, we held the doors open for our piers, we kept our elbows off the table at meal times, and we All did After school clubs - in my case it was my way of freedom away from my parents .

we were all taught about diversity and its impact, and we were breed with the knowledge that one day we may be called upon to help someone in danger or in need - no matter how small- I have tried to tailor my whole life to this ideology however I have done things in the line of service that I am not proud off and never will be - but they were acts that are keeping us free and the price of freedom is very high but a worthy price to be honest.

I stand back today and I ask "what was all the heart break and hardship we endured for this world all about really?"
as I think about the way I have been treated in my home nation and the way the children of tomorrow are growing up - a simple thing like manners have all but been lost, even though it cost nothing to say thank-you and please once in awhile. Most people seem intent on just making a fast buck and not thinking about the consequences of their actions
for example a certain mechanics garage in basingstoke got their head up their arse because a friend and I were not going to pay for an exhaust that I could fit myself - being a trained mechanic - so they failed the car on the exhaust - no surprise- but on the way back the Jumped up technician throw a bolt my way and said "some random bolt fell out of the engine"
any way as we driving home we developed a loud knocking noise on the busiest round about in basingstoke so then we lost drive and all the gears so I got out at peak time and pushed this Saxo VTR 800 metres in traffic to a safe place popped the bonnet and found out that they had un done one of the gear box bolts and took of a gear linkage rod !!! Just to prove a point in the event we would have broken down out side of their depot .... It just shows that they did not no what would happen as a result of their actions ! It could have killed a few people. This man is going to be paid a visit very soon!

However my point is this how and when did we become so self absorbed we have forgoten our fellow man or women. I mean come on we work with them, we walk and talk with them every day so when a beggar is asking for money why can we not help his situation and throw him some of our change , I know we are all in the sdame boat at the moment but come on even when the world is going to pieces and nothing is going right for me I still find the time to give that guy my change - i.e yesterday my friend and I were walking back to the broken car and we were asked if we could spare some change - my friend said no however I asked how much did he want and I reached into my pocket and I gave him my change and told him not to worry about it - and I AM UNEMPLOYED MYSELF -

but according to the protestors that are camped out side parliment OUR government I am nothing more then scum because I was a soldier, but can you answer this - do you see any of them giving away their much needed change just to lighten the load on the fellow person - frankly the ansdwer is no. So that hurts and cuts deeply when I went past parliment in Novemember in my berett and I was spat at and shouted at by them and the police simply asked/ tolded me to move on before there was trouble .

I personally can not see anyway of rectifiying this problem unless we all start adopting the ideology of a good deed always gets returned in one way shap or form.

so next time you see a begger asking for money - think what can you do to help his or her sitaution - as I know you would want someone to do the same if it were you sat there.