When it touches the bottom line - in friendship

When I was a kid, I used to ask my father the most broad question:"how to treat things?"

He gave me two and a half sentences:"first, be nice; second, everything has a bottom line. Make some decision when it touches the bottom line"

What is the bottom line?

It changes overtime as I growing up, and when I gaining new knowledge, getting more experiences and meeting new people. It helps me to control myself of doing the right thing at right time, without getting too crazy ;)

For instance, making friends. If someone are nice too me, then I give the same treatment back in 200% in return. 6 years ago when I just started with university, studying hard while enjoying the most innocent time in my life, I consider whomever talk with me for more than 2 times as friend. Therefore I got friends from various activities in different channels. Until one day I found a girl who was taking the goodness of all her friends, but never did anything good to people around her. I decide to block people with extreme selfish character from my friend list, because they live in a small world that only they themselves exist.

2 years later I was so lucky to get into the most inspiring organization AIESEC, met people whom can kept me smiling whenever I think of them. I started to know how to distinguish a good friend from everyone. Especially when I found myself start to adapt to the behaviors of them: being updated with news, read more books, being optimistic, staying in peace, etc. From then I start to think more carefully when I met new friends: whom is someone can lift you up, and whom will drag you down. Then give more importances to the one who influence you silently in a right way. I became selective in making friends.

As I came to the Netherlands, attended the master programme where classmates/colleagues are from much more complicated social and economic background, other than "simple-minded" bachelor students, they are much more sophisticated. You got free-drivers in teamwork but highly intelligent; you are frustrated with 30 years old who still behave like a child, however they activate the atmosphere when there is a group of people; you saw close-minded who would never step outside their comfort-zoon, then they are good time-manager. Once more I learned something else about people from being with them. Also from many of clients from my part-time job. I realize that one person can have double or triple/more... sides of personalities. Almost everyone, has the good side of their personality, and the dark/hidden side of themselves. And the reasons could because of their family background, the experiences in their life (especially childhood), etc. So you can be friends with part of one people's personality. You can never expect what will happen when you start to get more tolerance. I therefore stopped being so selective with friends...except one thing that I really look into from a person: a positive attitude. The ability of standing up in difficulty.

Everyone I meet is like a mirror, and a good mirror let you know you are still ignorant. In regardless of their religion, gender, nationality, age...

(Don't know why I came up with an article like this...I think partly I'm looking for a reason for me to quit my current part-time job -- my only income source here in the Netherlands. I found myself start to go backward and become negative when I was being with people at this workplace. Therefore I choose to leave. I'm sure I can make out something more valuable in the close future, as it is always be :D )

Cheer up!