Friends are wonderful; I always considered them the family one gets to choose for themselves, God’s way of giving you a choice to select who you would like to be related to.

I am sure we have all had a number of people come and go in and out of our lives – friends you thought were great but yet turned out not so great and friends that initially were horrible to have around, sometimes turned out to be one of the greatest people around, true gems.
From a young age, we are literally playing Russian roulette when it came to selecting friends: from kindergarten to where we are today and everything in between; sometimes, we would get it right and other times we missed. I guess it’s just life. You learn to make the best out of the hand you are dealt with.

The misses and bad apples can be horrible and hurt us more than we would like to admit; people have different tastes and intentions. It’s not always the case that one has bad tastes in friends or that people in general just tend to screw you over, eventually, sometimes it is you. You are the common denominator in all this.

In a friendship or any relationship in general, it’s vital to also evaluate yourself and see what kind of person you are – maybe you are the toxic person and friend to others. It’s not always that people are bad or that you attract certain kind of people to yourself. It could also be that you are that kind of person whom you wouldn’t want to be around and your friends are just a reflection of who you are.

And when it comes to friends, you really can’t blame anyone for ending up with your friends because unlike family members and blood relations where you have absolutely no control or say in picking them, you have a choice and if it turns out unfruitful, that is on you, the honest truth.  
When or if you do get it right though, it’s a blessing it’s magical and a lot of people can attest to that. A good friend can make the journey of life much richer and durable. It’s one of those gifts that keep on giving, the longer it lasts the richer it becomes, like many valuable artefacts in life.
But like a valuable artefact, it is not easy to maintain, just like any other relationship. Maintaining a friendship takes work and effort and time, that is where the magic and fun is buried, where memories are created and shared. So, God does give and when he gives, he gives abundantly. Appreciate the friends you have in life.

Olavi Popyeinawa
Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com 
Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa