Looking in the Mirror,

When you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you simply see a reflection of your physical appearance, or is it something more deep and personal that you recognize?
I often times find myself staring into the mirror. I look at myself, the things that I have done with my life, the trials that I have experienced and the emotions that I feel. However, there is one detail that always seems to capture my interest when I gaze through that crystalline window. I see the people that I have come to love. It reminds me of them all and the relationship that I have had with each of them.
There are times when I will pick out a certain individual and just think about what that person means to me. I enjoy thinking about how the two of us became friends and how we both have taken part in our own adventures and misadventures through life. At times I ponder what my life may have been like if I did not know that person and what I would be like if they simply weren’t there.
Relationships are much like that mirror. They are beautiful and elegant, yet they are also fragile. It does not take much to destroy a relationship, a gesture, a look, something said, or simply absence.
Companionship is one thing in life that we all must have. Whether it be with someone or something, all people create some attachment to a sort of symbol that resembles to them a form of companionship. The little girl with her dolly, the teenager with his skateboard and a married couple, these are all examples of companionship. The girl treats her doll as a person, naming it and sharing her cup of afternoon tea with it. The teenager protects his skateboard as though it were a friend, he personalizes it to fit his own image and takes it many places with him. The married couple will hold hands and confide in each other, they have a love that they took as far as to tie themselves to one another in ceremony. As I said, these are all different forms of the same thing, companionship. As each of us develops relationships we in turn develop a companionship.
You may be wondering what the difference is between relationships and companionship. The answer is not that difficult to explain. A relationship is a shared attachment between individuals, they may know each other but neither one is required to have positive feelings toward the other. They may both hate one another but they still are capable of relating to oneanother, even if it is through simple interaction.
A companionship is a mutual attachment between the individuals that is purely positive, they know and accept the other through feelings of compassion and love. They have both grown through a relationship that blossomed into something that many call, friendship.
As we humans  live out our short life spans we all seek companionship. The relationships that we develop with others act as a sort of test, although not intentional that is what they are. Relationships are tests to determine if we are capable of developing the sought out companionship with the other individual. If the relationship is a compatible one, meaning that each subject finds some quality in the other that compliments one of their own, a companionship grows between them, thus achieving the individuals objective. However, if the relationship is not a compatible one, they find prominent qualities in each other that conflict with their own personality, the relationship comes to a standstill and may eventually become something negative, such as rivalry or hatred.
We all can find something in our friends that we don’t agree with but due to the nature of the positive qualities that we find in them most people tend to overlook the minor blemishes that someone has in their personality. It is when the more prominent negative features come to the surface that a separation begins between the two. If a settlement is not found to deal with the discrepancy the smaller negative details afore mentioned will simply add fuel to the funeral pyre of the relationship. If a relationship is important enough the two will work out their problems and eventually come to a better understanding of one another.