one foot off the merry-go-round

Two ships lie in the harbour ... One of the two ships has just returned from a long voyage, the other is just preparing for a long voyage ... Jubilation and blessings accompany the ship as it sails off – while the arriving ship goes unremarked. But is it not this ship that deserves jubilation? ... The newly arrived ship lies safely in the harbour. But nothing is known of the one setting sail. What will be its fate? Who knows whether it will successfully withstand the storms awaiting it?

“’You won’t understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are – not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving – and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad – or good – it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all.’”