Who is your friend?There is a very wonderful yet simple Jewish saying I always keep in my heart: “Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure.”

My mother used to tell me that a person is not complete without the company of true friends. “True friends?” I asked myself. I can’t really understand what she said as I am still a child that time and my sense of thinking has not yet developed.

Here comes high school. This is when I finally understand what she meant. Because of the pressures at school, I finally took notice who are really caring for me from those who didn’t. True friends helps us lead a very happy and fulfilling life.

But how can one build a good friends’ base? It is simple. True friends are not chosen, they will just grow with us. I can remember the time I am still a university student and I really want to be friends with this particular

classmate. I tried to know his interests and adjusted from there. One day, I happened to ask my seat mate about his opinion to this classmate I want to befriend. We talked and talked and shared each other’s story. The next thing I know, he is one of my dearest friends and the good thing about it? I never made the effort to know him.

Exposing weaknesses and vulnerabilities to one another causes a pact that is hard to remove. Through time, intimacy will flow in, like a glue that as it dries, leaves a clear surface and a bonds two things together.

Although showing our real self poses problems. Some people might not accept us and will eventually reject us. But this situation can segregate between the good and the bad friends, the true from the plain acquaintance. A word from Elbert Hubbard fits exactly in this:

“Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.”

As one gets older, making friends is a priority. Good friends are also humans and will naturally expire. Through the years, friends will eventually be gone one at a time, leaving us sad and lonely, that’s why a constant stream of friends is important.

Friends can help us cope with the amazingly twisted world we call life.