Our drive for success is insatiable. We set one goal, achieve it, and then set another one. This vicious cycle never stops turning its wheels. Its claws are dug deep into our brains, and it feeds us various monetary or other satisfactory perks. As long as we breathe, we run behind several forms of success. Our eyes gleam with pride when we finally hold the fruit of our toils. When those glorious days of success finally bow to us, we stop bowing to anyone else. We are at the top of the world, our chests heavy with pride, and our eyes focused on the sky. Finally, we cherish our lives and begin looking for the company of people who are equally successful. Don’t birds of a feather flock together? Doing against this law can not be pretty. Can it? So, we begin turning our backs towards the people who had wiped our countless tears during the days of our failure. Those people might have encouraged us and pushed us to test our boundaries, but what use do we have for them — now, that we are far away from the dreaded failure land? Our friends change and so does our attitude. We cannot remain polite anymore, lest we might risk being known as soft. Who wants a soft manager or leader? We begin tormenting whoever we have control over, cloud our pompous heads under the warmth of money, and show everybody their designated place. There is nothing wrong in showing who is the boss, is there?

These glorious days, however, come with an expiration date. The only difference between this date and the ones that are printed on the boxes is that the expiration date of success is not printed in the plain sight. Therefore, we do not know when these sunny days would be dominated by the immense darkness of night. There is a problem with this uncertainty. The friends, we had disowned during climbing the ladder of success, have changed their residence. Their hearts belong to someone else, now. Apparently, ignoring good people enrages them. That’s not fair, is it? Wait a minute, where did those friends go, whom we had befriended while climbing that wonderful ladder? They must be here, somewhere. Oh, they are there, but it seems they do not know how to climb down a few steps to help a falling friend. Gravity rules everything else. Who would have known? Why wasn’t it written in the instruction to use that ladder? Unfair, isn’t it? How hard is it to write: “Most of the friends while climbing up the ladder are fake ones; whereas, the friends we made while licking our wounds of failure are worth keeping.”

As a matter of fact, it has always been told; we just never paid a heed to it. Ever heard of this phrase?

A Friend in need is a friend indeed.

No, then how about this one?

The single hand that wipes your tears during your failures is better than the countless hands that came together to clap you on your success.

Success or no success, the simple law of life should be to surrounded by beautiful souls. They might not be as successful as most of the rich and pompous people, but they would always cherish you and save you from drowning in a pool of a certain death. No matter how stuck you are in the trap of failure, you would always find your way to happiness if you hold onto these magnificent friends. They may not have plenty of money in their bank accounts, but, believe me, they are richer than most of the arrogant and affluent people.

P.S. This post is in response to the daily prompt: Countless