“True friends care about each other. A good friend stays forever, beyond words, distance, and time!”
Many of us make several friends during early adolescence and retain long-term relationships with those people for many years. Some of us just associate with a select few people and form close friendships that last for years. We share our lives, our hopes, and our dreams with those people. True friends are few, as are many who share common empathy and concern. Those we form relationships with over a short time period can be so deep that no amount of time apart or lack of communication will alter how we feel about that friend.
If you ask my personal experience, only four of my friends are in that group, and two of my friends know each other and have a mutual understanding. We three connect daily and share our feelings, and at the same time, we have fun at each other’s homes, and it’s a great relaxation for us. Best friends trust each other; there’s the one you should confide in, the one you share your deepest secrets with, and the one who is never too old for a sleepover. Those can always be the same person, of course, but I find that’s rarely the case.
We’ve always wanted to make the most of a bad situation. It’s impossible to know if someone is going through a tough patch and wants, or needs, more support or to know whether the friendship has ended unless they tell you. While maintaining a BFF sometimes takes an inordinate amount of time and dedication, feeling stuck in a relationship simply because you have a similar past does not mean you must struggle through a shared future. When that happens, it’s okay to let go and move on if you need to.
This is the greatest friendship quote I’ve ever read: “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.”
Everyone we spend time with impacts our lives in some way, and those lifetime friends are the ones we call true. We keep them around because they’ve become a part of who we are. True friends help us flourish and improve for the better. Those people are there for us on good and difficult days. They have the ability to make us laugh when all we want to do is scream. And no matter how time and distance may drive one person away from the other, even if death intervenes, we still have the comfort of knowing these true friends are always there for us; we know they’re cheering for us and wishing us the best, even if only in our hearts, because that’s what true friends do for each other.
But those reason or season friends have their place, too, and we can’t ignore the impact a person might have on us just because they don’t stick around for very long. It’s okay to take the nuggets and let go.
“Feeling stuck in a friendship just because you have a shared past, doesn’t mean you have to suffer through a shared future.”
I conclude true friendship can rule the world, and it may already have done so.
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