The last few days have been those of personal accomplishments - I set up my blog, I'm making little, but steady, progress in my rapping and I'm getting even closer to my classmates, which was a personal struggle before. While those give me smiles and encouragement for more to be accomplished I'm also deeply saddened I might have to make certain hurtful decisions. Yes, its not always about the smiles when you see me along the road.
Decisions are a part of life. Every single day of our life we make them; should I say yes to his proposal? should I take a job from this agency? should I belong to this social group? Etc... All these are example of decisions. Decision is the process of making a choice from a list of options. And one of the very decision I'm struggling with right now is about a friend.
We all have that friend or those friends that stand out because their unique characteristics. Characteristics that set them apart and make them ''special'' in our hearts. We look at them with love while our hearts simultaneously pour out its care. Friends are one of those things that make life beautiful. And as any relationship, be it with a significant other, a family member, a church member etc, friendship encounters its own galloping challenges. It's not always a smooth ride.
I'm a natural lover of people, but when it comes to picking my friends I am very meticulous. I'm not also afraid to lose a friend or friends if the friendship becomes detrimental or unyielding. It may hurt but that's something I just have to deal with. And when I look to consciously let a friend go I think of the Egg Principle.
The Egg Principle is something we are all used to, or at least have seen. Imagine you have 6 eggs - 5 good ones and 1 rotten egg. Lets say, for instance, you want to make egg and bread sandwich or bake cake you'll have to mix the eggs together. You break your 5 good eggs in a bowl. At a glance, you can see how thick, sticky and ''clean'' it looks. Now, break your rotten egg inside the same bowl.
You'd notice at first glance that the appearance has changed and it no longer looks ''clean'' but instead have rotten particles sprinkled all over. Even when you add more eggs there will still be traces of the rotten egg. Now imagine the good eggs to represent the good attributes of a friend and imagine the rotten egg to represent the bad attribute.
When applying this principle to my life I am quite patient. Why? Because I don't want to make decisions based on an initial impression. Its good one understands another completely before such a decision is made. A lot of thought process has to go into it. I acknowledge this friend I'm concerned about has good attributes amidst the bad ones(don't we all?) and time has shown the friend to be a good and resourceful individual. But as another friend would say ''uneasy lies the head that wears the crown''. Only the man who has a problem know how the problem affects him.
One profound element about the Egg Principle is that it took one rotten egg to make the difference. Just one. Maybe it doesn't have to be a multitude of reasons before making that decision to let someone go. Sometimes, one reason is just enough.
