A true friend, my brother once told me, is one you can call in the middle of the night and who would rouse him or her self out of bed at this unearthly hour to come to your aid. I think he’s right.
But that doesn’t mean that someone who wouldn’t come to your aid at 3 a.m. – and indeed whom you wouldn’t even think of calling at that hour – isn’t a good friend.
Different kinds of friends meet different types of need: with some, we share our innermost hopes and anxieties, with others we work out at the gym, with some we pursue our interests and recreation. Some we have known since childhood, some we met at college, some are colleagues, either former or present.
Some are permanent fixtures in our lives, some drift in and meet a particular purpose and then drift out again. Friends and colleagues are, on the whole, a rich source of inspiration and personal validation.
But relationships with friends and colleagues – as with family relationships – do not always run smoothly. Have you ever had a colleague whose jealousy has disrupted your professional collaboration?
Or, dare I ask, have you ever been that friend? Why have you sabotaged your own goals? Have you asked yourself that question yet? And have you wondered, wistfully, how you could backtrack, re-establish the collegiality (or social intimacy) and pursue your mutual goal more constructively and in peace?
Call me. Let’s explore those questions together and get you back on track.