Alveen Keith M. Sareno
IV- Benevolence

How to Nurture a Friendship A friend is someone who cherishes the special moments and memories of life with another person. A friend is a trustworthy companion. Friendship is a relationship which takes time to build. There are many steps and stages to achieving a true friendship. However, one can think building a friendship is like planting a garden.

For many people, planting a garden represents devotion and leisure. It takes patience to grow a garden, frustrations and hardships are also involved in the process. Firstly the seed is planted. The seed builds the foundation of a strong and stable plant. It has to be taken care of and watered daily. Then the shoots start sprouting, the plant is finally flourishing. One can see day by day the garden maturing. Then one day the garden starts to wilt, its dying. One has to tend to it and have the patience and determination to bring it back to life. It frustrates one to see the insects and predators preying on the beautiful garden that once existed. But hard work and devotion regains the gardens beauty and gives it life again. Soon a shoots blossom and bloom into beautiful flowers. The charm and divine beauty of the garden is a wonderful enlightening sight.

Building a friendship has similar characteristics. One meets a person and plants the seed of friendship. The friendship builds and continues to grow stronger. It requires devotion of time and patience to achieve peak communication between the two companions. The struggle to keep a solid friendship includes many obstacles and hardships. But compromising, devotion and the willingness to endure are bound to payoff in the end. As Bernard Wolf quotes ^It takes a long time to grow an old friendship^. Friendship has its good and bad times. There comes a time when the relationship is just not working. It is preoccupied with disagreements and quarrels. It is on the verge of destruction. One must have the patience to deal with such frustrations. The willingness and determination to get the relationship working again come within. Compromising and persistence rebuilds the friendship and is once again reestablished. As Socrates once said “Be slow to fall into friendship, but when thou art ! in, continue firm and constant”. The friendship is blooming and is finally on its peak. It’s great to have a strong and stable relationship which allows the two companions to share the joys and memories of life together.

If building a friendship can be compared to planting a garden then perhaps some of its frustrations and problems can be better understood. The true meaning of friendship is achieved by understanding its relativity to planting a garden. A person who builds a friendship as planting a garden can overcome the obstacles of it very easily. The symbolism becomes clear and precise. Friendship and planting a garden can both be said as ^give and take^. The more effort and persistence put into them the more stronger it is and everlasting happiness can be achieved.