Being a good friend is not about knowing your friends favorite color, favorite food or favorite number. Being a good friend, has a much deeper meaning than that.
I am sure we have all had friendships that have faded or friendships that randomly started, due to school or a club, but we all have those few special friendships. That special group of friends you know you will have for the rest of your life. That group of friends that have been there for you at your lowest and only want to see you at your highest.
In order to have a good friendship you have to learn how to be a good friend. Being a good friend, means that sometimes you have to pick up the weight off someone else’s shoulders and carry it on your own, until they have the strength to carry it themselves. Friendship is a lot of work. You have to go through the ups and downs, boyfriends and girlfriends, cries and laughs, in order to have a strong friendship. You cannot just walk away from that person when things get a little tough. You have to sit down and work it out.
Sometimes you have to do things you do not want to do, but you have to do in order to keep your friend happy. If they feel like they are going to fail a test, study with them. If they are going through a tough time, be there to cry it out with them. Being a friend means that another person will never have to go through life alone. You have to be
there for them, even when they cannot be there for themselves. Never let your friends give up on themselves. Make sure they know their worth.
Do not compete with each other, go through it together. Be supportive of each other. Tell each other how proud you are of all their accomplishments. Be there for them through their firsts. Their first break up, first love, first car, first house, first child, etc. Friends were put in our lives to make life a little easier than it actually is.
Having a friend means you never have to be afraid to go through life without guidance. Your friends will be there through your worst and best decisions. Listen to your friends, because sometimes your friends know you better than you know yourself. They know when you are sad, angry or have had enough. Your friends pick up your signs, way before you do.
Friendship is a two-way street. Both people have to put in equal amount of work. Some days you will have to put in 95 percent of the work, not because the other person is not trying but because the other person needs someone to try for them. Life is only going to get harder but your friends are the ones that will make you stronger, so that life will become easier. Even on days where you are in your worst mood, sometimes you have to fake a smile and put your friend’s problems first.
It is hard to find friendships that last long in a world full of rumors and people constantly trying to tear you down. It is hard to know the truth from a lie. The greatest friendships come along when you least expect it, because friendships come in all different forms. Maybe the person sitting next to you in homeroom freshman year of high school, will be one of your bride maids at your wedding. Maybe the person you finally asked to the school dance sophomore year, will turn out to be your first heartbreak. Maybe the person who you visited your first college with junior year, will end up being your college roommate .
The person you ran into from grade school at the shore during senior week, might spark up old memories. Perhaps the person you were afraid to talk to freshman year of college, will end up being the friend you always needed. The person you finally had the guts to admit your feelings for sophomore year of college, might just be your first love.
No matter what form your friendship comes in, be the friend you wish you had, when you had nobody. Once you find that core group of friends that you will go through everything with, do not let them go.
