【根据材料，回答第 156-160 题】
Many see friendships as a comfort blanket: a shoulder to cry on, a reliable soul to confide in. However, more often than not, in our eagerness to seek individual success, we lose friends along the way and that has become part of the process.
The chaos and never-ending turmoil that accompanies everyday life is an aggressive obstacle in the pursuit of stable friendships. As students, we use this excuse to shrug off losing people who we once thought to be loved ones.
Instead of viewing our lives as a race, where everyone is on their own path to some form of success, we must relearn to value the connections we make along the track. We must reevaluate the harm of radical, individual freedom.
Radical individualism elevates the freedom of the individual over the collective. It argues, for instance, that universal healthcare, an example of collectivism, threatened the dream of many Americans.
Many of us have fallen victim to an individualistic culture. Society tends to celebrate personal achievement and commend it based on the assumption that winning or succeeding is a consequence of working harder than the next person.
As a society, we idolize the concept of “losing friends on the road to success.” I remember hearing in high school, “Don’t worry about losing friendships, just focus on study and getting into college. That’s all that will matter in the long run,” a sentiment that is not unique to my experience. It’s preached in many success stories, and it’s embedded in the way we see growth. Motivational speakers will push their audience to be complacent to the inevitable end of losing friends. Spend too much time with friends? You’re losing time better utilized on your achievements. Invest time in your relationships? Invest time in your work instead.
This constant need to succeed has blinded us from seeing through the whirlwind of change that accompanies our everyday lives. We are expected to tangibly succeed, earn awards, get higher positions, earn better grades. In order to succeed, we lose friends, and that has sadly become normalized.
We cannot be complacent with losing friendships because they are our anchors.
Yes, pursue success. Challenge yourself. Push limits. But contrary to all the self-proclaimed success experts, doing it alone does not make you more successful or any better than someone who achieved it with the help of others.
Put effort into fostering healthy relationships, and maintaining them through your busy schedule that seems like it leaves no time for anyone else. Although we may be living in a society that treasures the independent pursuit of achievement, having people to support and love you on the way is far more important than any end result.