THE VALUE AND WONDER OF TRUE AND PRICELESS FRIENDS

THE VALUE AND WONDER OF
TRUE AND PRICELESS FRIENDS
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher

August 19, 2003

Throughout one's life, we're all afforded the opportunity to be blessed with true and priceless friends - after all, they're the jelly that makes our life go smoother and happier. This is especially true when the chips are down and we either call upon them or they call upon us if they are in the middle of some tough times of their own.

If there is anything I've learned in my two score and four years, it's been that laughter makes the world go around, and that love is what holds it together. For in looking back more closely at the last 30 years of love and laughter, tears and tough times, it's been my indescribable joy to report that there is truth in the saying that there is a silver lining in every cloud, and that the sun always shines nicest after the rain - both literally and in this little odyssey that we call life.

It has long been said - with complete truth to it, that friends are the family we choose for ourselves, and with that in mind, it's easy to see why so many people around me are so happy. All I have to do is look at their families as well as their friends, and I see they have chosen well indeed.

The best of friends inspire and motivate you to reach new heights of greatness never before realized; they help keep your feet planted firmly on the ground while encouraging you to reach for the stars and help you rise above yourself. Your every visit with them leaves you a better person as you learn so much from them - about others and about yourself and how you can be a better person.

Essential in all this is the gift of candor. One friend in particular has this gift in a way that has blessed my life immeasurably. How is this so? Simple. She uses this gift by stating the point without being brutal or abusive as has so often been the case in my past experience with others who have claimed to be 'acting in my best interest', when in reality, it was an act of verbal and psychological abuse. This particular lady - who has been, is and will always be a friend, has made my life forever better just for being there - all on account of the loving kindness that she has not only shown me, but shows all people in everything she does. A class act in every sense of the word, she personifies what it means to live a good Christian life - in thought, word and deed. Knowing her is indeed is one of the greatest blessings of my life, and is one for which I will be eternally thankful.

Another friend in all of this and for whom this gift is present is a classmate from college who now lives in Alaska. We met in early 1982 right after I transferred to the University of Utah and he had been home from his mission for a little over a year. He and I spent endless hours shooting the breeze about all kinds of things - especially politics and religion, and these discussions went late into the night, much to the dismay of my wife at the time.

When he married in the summer of 1983, I was one of his best men, and with more than 20 years having passed, we still remain in close touch. Through thick and thin, he has stood by me (as have a handful of others), and as needed, he has been there with a mallet for the proverbial smack when I've needed it - and believe me, it has been needed on occasion.

Another lesson learned from true and priceless friends is the need on occasion to 'raise the bar' as necessary in one's life. During my divorce, it was clear that changes needed to be made - and fast. Clearly, this was a case of where 'raising the bar' paid huge dividends through patience and endurance on my part (as hard as it was) as advised by a close friend now living in Connecticut.

Following the timely advice and counsel of that friend was such that it too, forever changed the course and direction of my life, and that my friends and readers, is what the value and wonder of true and priceless friends is all about. For if they can do that for you, the chances are that blessing has been returned to them an hundred fold. ***

Photo of Timothy Rollins courtesy of staff files