Dear Diary,
Sometimes I think of the future and I wonder with whom will I still keep in contact with. In the span of 10 years, things could change. Yes, things could change dramatically. Will we still value one another's friendship as much as we do now? Can all friendships be sustained?

Perhaps 'all' is too much of an ideal. There will definitely be drifters and keepers among the wide spectrum of friends we have. In fact, we could probably guess who would be in either category, though there are many who remain unclassifiable as of yet.

What does 'sustaining' mean actually? Does it simply mean the frequency of meeting between friends by choice? You know, you can know a person for 10 years but still never get to know who he really is. And what of those you rarely have the opportunity to meet up with, or that either party is not proactive in creating chances to meet?

Circumstance and choice. For every friendship, it was first a chance encounter and then a concerted effort to foster the relationship. Circumstance gives us the opportunity to meet these friends; choice allows us to sustain these friendships. Circumstance provides choices to further enact circumstances to perpetuate the virtuous cycle. Circumstance and choice. A conciliation of both, perhaps.

Friendship was never meant to be a measuring scale, but Man prefer quantifiable measurements to unknowns, and thus we have created a barometer for friendship. We perceive friendships in a quasi-rigid manner and borrow terms such as 'best' and 'better' to accentuate the differences in 'quality' of friendships. In a way, this also justifies the bias that tinges the way we act towards different groups of friends.

You know, it's easy to make friends, and the difficulty really lies in sustaining it. Right now, school provides us with the convenience of meeting with friends even as our agendas diverge. In a few months' time, things will be quite different, won't it?

On another strand of thought, the saddest thing lies in meeting a stranger you have always felt an affinity to, but never got the chance to pursue the friendship. Best friends, great friends, good friends, they are 'better' than your 'average' friends because of the shared memories and perhaps similarities in personality or character. But how many of them actually share a resonance in traits and thoughts with you?

Hmmm... but I guess the only reason why I'm thinking of all these is because I am blessed with so many good friends, and thus can afford the luxury of such thoughts. In any case, here are the words a great man once said: Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.