Who is your best friend?

Friendship is a very special relationship. When you are in a good mood or low, you usually turn to your best friend. That could be your mother, your spouse, your schoolmate, or your colleague.

It is that one relationship that soothes your heart and calms your emotions; provides you support and boosts your positivity, builds your trust in yourself and increases your self-confidence, highlights your strengths but also draws your attention to your weaknesses in a loving way.

We always look for that one person who can be a best friend.

That one friend who will always be nice to you, value you, respect you, and understand you. We need only one such friend and all other relationships are all right as they are. That one friend is within. We need to rejuvenate that friendship with our own selves. We try hard to maintain or mend all other relationships except this precious one, which is the foundation of all other relationships. This broken friendship with self, lack of love for self, makes us seek care and attention from others. We wait on others to love and accept us. We start judging ourselves. We feel uncomfortable with our own company. We start distracting ourselves with the world outside as being with the self becomes unpleasant.

Every time you see a relationship causing pain, pause for a minute and reach out to this friend. Talk to the wounded mind as you would talk to your friend in pain. Be nice to yourself. We have not looked out for this friendship for a very long time. To have a better bond, spend some time with this new friend every day. We need our own approval, attention, acceptance, care, and love more than others’. Once we re-establish this friendship, seeking acceptance ends. People will be free to like or dislike you, but that won’t break your friendship with your own self because it is not based on others’ opinions or approval.

Meditation is being friends with ourselves. When being with self becomes comfortable and blissful then know that friendship forever has established itself again. Learn to enjoy being with the self as that is the only art of happy living. Celebrate friendship in the true sense.

Courtesy: Rajyoga Meditation Center, Kingston (meditation courses and counselling are offered free of charge). Email: kingston@jm.brahmakumaris.org. Or follow them on Instagram: rajyoga_meditation_jamaica.