Did you know that today is #DayOfFriendship or the International Day of Friendship? It is a UN sanctioned day! As we all know, our world faces many challenges, crises, and forces of division, such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses, among many others, that undermine peace, security, development, and social harmony among the world’s peoples. To confront those crises and challenges, the root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms, the simplest of which is friendship. So the UN declares that, through friendship, by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust (did you read last week’s TMC?), we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good.
When I saw that it was the Intentional Day of Friendship, I thought back to various friendships over the years. I have friends versus merely acquaintances—people I can reach out to if I need to—from my years at boarding school as well as university. I look back at those relationships, when they were developing, and where they are today. They were built on mutual respect and nurtured by trust. In most cases, these were close and trusted friends, our secrets about girls, our breaking the rules, and our nights out on the town. In all cases, I entrusted these people with my life (quite often) and secrets. As adult life set in, new relationships developed—many through work. A lot of them remain, and again, they were built on trust and mutual respect. These friends include peers and bosses who I keep in touch with to this day, break bread with, spend family time together with, because the relationship was more than a business or employer-employee relationship. Then when I got into the sponsorship industry, more friendships developed. Many of my business clients have evolved into some of my closest personal friends.
To solve the worlds’ problems, to build a great sponsorship portfolio, to have fun, we need friendships. On this the International Day of Friendship, I encourage you to reach out to no less than 10 of your friends, by phone, in person, email, or social media and say “hi” to them, and tell them you are glad they are your friend. I sent 10 such notes today before I published this TMC. The better friendships we have, the better chance we have of saving the world—not to mention our own little corner of it.
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