The single most important thing that any of us can do as much as possible is to be thankful. So many people are lucky enough to live in a free country, where they can speak their mind, pursue the type of work they want to do (regardless of whether that is something that is your passion or something you enjoy doing to make money), date the people they want to date, be with the people they want to be with and also regularly forget how lucky they are to actually do that. Seems to be that in this day and age, it is much easier to just complain and look at what you don't have, what you wish you had more of, at the career that you definitely can't get because you made some wrong moves, and so many other things. Yet, it is so easy to recognize all the greatness of what we have right now, no matter which "right now" we are considering.
Don't forget to train yourself to be thankful for everything you have, and will have, and did have. Get into it so much that it becomes a habit. It's hard to make it a habit so you really have to force it at first until it is not only "second nature" but actually just your nature.
Interesting to me to consider whether it's a good idea to work with friends, either at a place of business or a music/band context. The common concern I've heard from people in the past is whether relationships would prevent people from doing their best when they are working together on a project. I can see it, but it definitely depends on the quality of the character of the person who is "Lower on the totem pole". I noticed it from the people I work with at my day job. Most of the people who work there are 1st level. Then there are a handful of people who are 2nd level. Above them is one head honcho. I've noticed that there is one person in particular, let's call them Pat, who is particularly friendly with a superior, who I'll call Chris. Chris is a very friendly supervisor and fun to chat with. For whatever reason, Pat as become very friendly with Chris at work and seems to be joking with Chris every chance Pat gets. The issue I have is that Pat is not this friendly with anyone else at work, so it's suspicious to me as to why Pat is so joyous around Chris. I've also noticed that when Pat is expected to do certain duties during their shift, Pat is more likely to do other things that I don't feel need to be done while we are trying to carry out our duties. I feel like Pat is taking advantage of the friendship developed with Chris. I think this is a reflection of the person Pat really is because a person who has a strong work ethic would be able to develop a friendship with Chris while also doing their best to carry out their job regardless of any "friendship-status" with a superior.
This can be the same issue within a music setting. I've been in several situations where musicians who were hired to do a gig show up to the rehearsal unprepared. I have an inclination to assume that these musicians are assuming that if they are familiar with the band leader, maybe they can get away with not be as prepared as a hired-gun who is being paid a reasonable rate to do the gig, which should also include at least one rehearsal. But why wouldn't someone who is proud of producing the best work they possibly can at every opportunity show up the rehearsal fully prepared, regardless of whether they are getting paid? In this way, I think it would demonstrate the best of a person's character whether they are prepared when they show up for the rehearsal AND the gig. Just like with the previous example, it should also be a parallel to working someone that you consider a friend and actually doing the job you are paid for. Maybe this blog post is not a good example of what I'm trying to work through in my mind, but it makes sense in my personal understanding.