Happy Friendship Day

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterwards, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This Friendship Day, remember to tell your friends how special you think they are.

Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.

Friends are the elixir of life that makes our world go round, brightening our lives and bringing a sparkle to our eyes. Friendship is an absolutely unique relationship, strengthening with the passage of time and withstanding all the tests of time.

Celebrated the world over on the first sunday of August, the origin of Friendship Day is unclear. The U.S Congress sanctioned National Friendship Day in 1935 as a special day to honour and celebrate friendships. In 1997, the U.N named Winnie the Pooh as the world's Friendship Ambassador.
Psychologists say that true friendships are not need based, they continue and thrive even when there is no need. They further add that friendships are great stress busters, time spent with friends reduces stress, uplifts the mood, banishes the blues by pepping up our lives.

Not only do friends awaken the best within us, they also arouse our sense of friendliness-a friend's friend is a friend. In the olden days there were quaint customs and symbols associated with friendship.
Salt a natural preservative was made a symbol of lasting friendship as well as of immortality. Arabs to this day place salt in front of a stranger to assure him of their goodwill.

Friendly knights raised their visors to each other and the removal of a helmet indicated friendship and utter trust in a hostile world. Did you know that the herb parsley's (supposed to relieve indigestion and counteract poison ) presence in food assured guests of their hosts' friendship and good intentions?
Friendship is a lifelong process. This Friendship Day, let your old friends know that you haven't forgotten them and tell your new friends that you never will.

Have a Happy Friendship Day.