Friends are your greatest resource. Don't believe me? Just look at the infamous sucide and mental illness statistics. People who are healthy have diverse friendships, based on realistic reasons that are healthy for all parties. Let's look at what's involved in creating friendship.

One of Sam Rayburn's most famous remarks was if you wanna git along, you gotta go along. That's probably the most important lesson in politics, and the most important part of becoming a successful individual who embraces a variety of people as friends. All relationships are based on commonality between two groups of people. It's about shared beliefs. It's not always easy to know what way to go.

Certainly making friends can be a challenge, particlarly if you have strongly held beliefs that you really do not want to give up for your friendship. Yet you have to ask yourself: Are these beliefs relevant to our friendship? Can we put these issues aside for a greater good?

Choosing what you believe, and what is the most important issues in your life is not easy. Yet, you need to look deep into your core beliefs, and beyond consumerism, and choose what is deepest in your heart. And try to make as many friendships and connections in your life—it will benifit you greatly in the long-run.