My special friends

Earlier in life I took some special friends for granted. They were unusual friends not because they were rare or even unique, but because they were and continue to be over-looked as friends by many. They were then certainly over-looked by me. Yet so central were they to my [already] living a great life that the process of coming to know them and recognising them as the great and generous friends they still are seems worth sharing.

The first time I identified my special friends was when, talking to an early older comedian friend, I asked how she remembered so many jokes. She said "I have no jokes, only special friends. No one ever forgets a special friend.".

Pondering this reply, I started looking at who my special friends might be. Then just into my teens, my search was for that which had contributed to some early successes in life. I found humour, fun and action. Later, at 15, a school report noted "Ian has integrity, independence of mind and a quiet sense of humour.". It seems I was building some early friendships, friendships that have opened so many doors and allowed access to so many great paths in my life. The expanded list has changed little. I continue a great life with and through my special friends. A life full of experiences such as here, right now, an accepted invitation to be 5 metres from the Caribbean and for free, or next month in India as a member of a world delegation on human values in the 21st centuary. Not a bad set of gifts through my friends.

So whom are my special friends?
Most obvious amongst my friends are fun, enthusiasm, responsibility, creativity, equality, commitment, adventure, independence, health, fitness, integrity, proximity to nature and passion. Achievement, fulfilment, confidence, peace all flowed so naturally from my friends; money, a great servant and never a master, also flowed (as sufficiency, never abuse) - a solid natural respected presence throughout.

One further friend I would now add....a profound, vital realisation: 'It is never too late'. Even through early years much seems 'late in the day' - at 11 a 14 year old brother seems old, 25 unbelievably far away, parents, at 30, are late in life (even past it) and so on. Yet, each year as I spend time helping others towards great lives, for this is one passion in my life, (it is what I'm doing in the Caribbean Islands right now), so many say 'It's too late for me.". Yet they are 20, 30, 50, 70....but it is never too late. I respect these Great Elders most in their amazing lives because they never stop learning, adventuring, testing possibilities...just doing new things. They have shown me it is never too late to begin new paths accepting their gifts from their, and I from my own, special friends.