Your Other Potential Best Friends!

By Dr. Synesio Lyra, Jr.

It’s a well-known affirmation, that dogs are the best friends any human can have. Their loyalty, their playfulness, and their constant presence by the side of their owner are among several other appreciated qualities they bring to one’s life. Amazing is also what trained canines can do for a person destitute of good vision or afflicted by a degenerative malady, as well as the services they render to officers of the law in a variety of situations!

Indeed, no one can deny the loyalty of such animals and the consistency of the friendship they are capable of offering to members of the households they occupy, almost as if they were family!

Another potential best friend which is not viewed as universally as a dog is a book. It’s sad, when such is the case, because books are indeed friends available twenty-four hours any day to anyone seeking their company.

Regardless of its age, a book has a lot to offer, regardless of the language in which it was written. It can provide knowledge, instill wisdom, expand the mind, augment one’s vocabulary, and even bring therapy to its reader, regardless of the subject of its content!

I never forget the experience I once had of talking with a groom and his best man, while we waited for the call to move to the area where the wedding I was to officiate would occur. The best man, a high school drop-out, boasted of the fact that he had never read a book in his life, nor he ever planned to.

It was a sad statement to hear, for it denoted a tragic reality more present in our society than anyone would like to acknowledge as true. People who had bad experiences in school seem to associate books only with school work, not recognizing the value that other kinds of reading can bring to anyone’s personal growth and total development as a person.

Because my entire life has been and continues to be enriched beyond measure by my love for books, I can only recommend this tool to my readers, regardless of age. In  case, no day goes by without some hours being devoted to reading, to enlarge my mind, to accumulate new knowledge and feelings, and to be able to look at life from additional angles which reading opens up.

Wisdom does not come only from books, entertainment is not limited to the printed page, knowledge is to be found beyond reading materials. At the same time, books will never disappoint you in offering you the same and much more! It shall always remain a legitimate best friend to those who keep their company!