Are There Shortcuts to Friendship?

A tower will fall, crash and burn, when an earthquake hits it if its foundation hasn't been laid out well. Just like friendship.

So far, the best friendships that I ever had are with the ones, among others, I've worked with in unity, understanding, trust, and challenges. Others are the ones formed through nurtured communication and preservation of the relationship, even if it started out as being acquaintances. Unlike the ones formed through hanging out long hours doing nothing but idleness and waste of time, they last longer and are better ground for culturing and taking care of.

Pseudo-friendships always crack and are ever in need of patching up. And, why is that? I've experienced before how my friendship connections fail. But, there is always a need to repair them after the chaos. The problem is that it always goes the same way and it has become a cycle. In the end, I feel like I never had any real friend, and I go on soul-searching. It stresses me out. I hunger and plea for genuine friends and I feel that there are none. I feel like I'm a horse with eye-patches on the side of my view so that I can only see one direction.

From that, I've learned how to distinguish the different types and levels of relationships there are that I have with others, and how to, like with ground, culture them to help in forming them into genuine relationships.

We must start our relationship with others from the base. We cannot continue right away from the top. We must also know who those are that are really there, and who those are that we only illusion of in being there. If we choose the wrong pieces of wood and blocks of stones, it will fall down like an uno-stack-o that doesn't fit well. We mustn't commit the mistake of assuming those that aren't really meant to be friends or are already friends as real friends while they're not. We must lay down the foundations well first before it gets ready to stand tall, strong, and glorious. It cannot be made historical and monumental unless it's made in the right way.

So, today, let me ask a question. Do we make genuine friends in just an instant? By just hanging out with them (doing vanity), and presto, we're good friends? Are there shortcuts to friendship?