Tariq Saeedi
If you have several good friends and you meet another person who are likeable, easy to get along with, and everything else you want in a good friend, you would give it a try if the inclination is reciprocal.
Ordinarily, you would let the mutual chemistry take its course, – the friendship will either thrive or it will fizzle out. It may go through some ups and downs before it settles into a stable state, or it may move smoothly without any hiccups. Of course, you would work on the friendship to make it lasting as long as you feel the other person are also putting in the thought and effort.
The idea would never cross your mind that you need to discard some of your present friends to accommodate the new friend. It is not like a memory stick where you need to delete some old files to create space for the new files. Friendships don’t work like that. Partnerships also don’t work like that. There is no concept of limited or confined space in friendships or partnerships.
In general, people have multifaceted personalities and a wide range of talents and interests. This leads to the creation of several circles of friends that are generally overlapping and not mutually exclusive. This is natural grouping. The lowest common denominator is that all of you feel comfortable with each other.
To nurture friendship (and partnership) there is the constant need of equality, trust, and mutual respect. It is transactional. It has to be from all sides in the friendship equation.
It is transactional in the sense that each interaction leaves an impression on the mind, based on the volume of trust and respect given or withheld. Each interaction also determines whether it is taking place in the atmosphere of equality or not.
Consequently, each interaction either strengthens or weakens the friendship or partnership.
t is abundantly clear that friendship and partnership follow the logic path of And-And. — to add new friends in the circle, you don’t need to remove any of your existing friends. There is no quota on the number of friends you can have. With each new friend, you are just expanding your circle of friends.
The Either-Or logic is not applicable to the formation of friendships and partnerships. /// nCa, 29 April 2024