A friend is a person with whom one has a bond of trust and mutual affection. For a student, a friend is someone to share secrets with, lunch with, and sit with in the classroom. Being a student, I see a number of students having inscribed the word BFF (Best Friend Forever) with the name of their friend on their bags. It is a new trend. But while students make their school friends as BFFs, they don’t remember that one day they will have to walk through life on their own, leaving their so-called BFFs behind.
In reality, we should have three real best friends in our life, which are: Smile, Honesty and Patience. The trio shows us the real path and meaning of our life. Let’s talk about our real BFFs here:
Smile: Smile is such a fuel as can run our engine of life smoothly and happily. Smile is a beautiful unnoticed resource, a source of joy when we are sad, a source of relaxation when we are in stress. It is so powerful that it can transform all the difficulties of life into joy. It is a symbol of kindness. Whenever we want, we can rest peacefully in the sweet shadow of a smile. But, we have to remember what Dalai Lama has said: Happiness is not readymade, it comes from our own actions.
Honesty: People often think that honesty means not lying, but James E Faut has defined it well: “Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living and truth loving.” Honesty is a jewel that shines. If a person is honest, it means he is away from all the evils, as the root of all evils is falsehood. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said that honesty certainly leads to goodness and goodness leads to paradise (Jannah). Remember, truth that harms us is better than falsehood that brings joy.
Patience: Patience is the ability to bear whatever afflicts or oppresses a person. It is the ability to swallow rage and overcome despair. Patience is not only a best friend but a great teacher as well. It teaches us how to be like an ocean that keeps a large amount of bitter salt in it but still provides us with beautiful and sparkling pearls. Trough patience great things can be accomplished. Patience is linked to good health and helps us achieve our goals. Quran says: “Only sabr (patience) has such special qualities as to get people rewarded boundlessly.”
So, let’s live our life happily and peacefully with Smile, Honesty and Patience – our real and lifelong BFFs.

The writer is a Class 8 student from Shatigam Handwara.

Hina Jaan