Friendships don't always last - more times than not they don't. But some do, and they're the friends you really need to value and appreciate. That doesn't mean real friends are hard to come by; although that sometimes feels like the case. It also doesn't mean that person wasn't a real friend just because you're not friends now. It's sad, but friends come and go. People will always come and go - in and out of your life. Even friendships that have lasted for years and years can fizzle out. Things change. People change. It doesn't mean you didn't have a good friendship. Things just change. Maybe you drifted. Maybe you have less in common now. Maybe distance is an issue. Maybe life just got in the way, who knows? But change isn't always bad. Maybe you just need new friends in your life that are changing like you, that understand you a bit better or that can meet you at a drop of a text. All friendships are different, and when people change and grow sometimes you'll change and grow at different paces, and without those friends.
As you get older you start to realise who your true friends are. Most adults only have a very select few they call close or best friends. With time friendships are tested a lot. Testing boundaries, testing how valued your friendship is, testing limits and testing if it's a true friendship or just one-sided.
I've had a lot of bad friends in my life. Some were users, some were two-faced and some were betrayers. Some of my friends I've just drifted from because we just don't have anything in common anymore. Most of them were from school. It's strange, but even after spending years of day after day together friendships can just cease to exist. Now that you don't have school and school drama and school gossip to talk about, you don't have much in common anymore. Without being in the same mutual situation and settings sometimes friendships that were great at the time no longer work outside of those circumstances. It doesn't mean you don't like those people anymore. Or that they're now different or bad people. It's like I said, life changes and sometimes that causes people to drift apart.
Some friends, however, stay with you. There are some friends that always make you laugh, ones that you can always rely on and ones that are more than just a friend. They're more like a brother or sister, or even maybe a soul-mate - our best friends; partners in crime. They're the ones we cling to the most. Rely on the most.
We all have friends. It doesn't matter how many we have. We all need to feel like someone's there for you. Someone that cares. We have two ways to get this - from family and from friends. Friends can feel like a second family. They do a lot for us. Providing a shoulder to lean on and a lending hand. It's easy to take all of that for granted, but you should never take them for granted. Nobody likes to be taken for granted, and you don't want them to not be there one day just because you couldn't appreciate them.
The last two years away from home has definitely put a strain on some of my friendships. Or at least caused some drifting apart. I've grown and changed, they've grown and changed. Thankfully, some of my friendships haven't changed at all. Seeing them and spending time with them has been exactly the same as before. Which is fantastic. Like my friends have said, it's the friendships that last and last no matter how much time you spend together or how often you see each other that are true friendships that are worth maintaining.
Here's a little dedication to all of those different types of friends we have.
There are friends that know how to have fun. When they do something it's perfectly acceptable and amusing, but if someone else did it then you would not be a happy bunny! You can have a good laugh with them. They always know how to make you smile from ear-to-ear and make you wet yourself laughing. They're a great person to introduce to your family and other friends. They're easy going and easy to get along with. They're the life of the party and distract you from the drama in your life. They're pretty crazy and weird. But hey, crazy is fun and normal's boring, right?
And who knows, they might even become your future wife or husband... Just saying.
Some friends are hard to imagine living without. Some of us are blessed with a life-long friend that we've known since a child. This is pretty rare and very precious.
When you're upset, unsure or have a dilemma, it's nice when you have someone that will listen and never judge you. We all need someone to confide in sometimes. Confiding in a friend can take a huge weight off your shoulders. It's always nice to have a friend that'll listen and never hold anything against you. They're there for you and always will be whenever you ask them to lend an ear or helping hand.
It's the friendships that work and keep working that doesn't end in a massive falling out that are true friendships. Friendships that remind you of good times, happy times and moments of comfort. Whether they're friendships of past or present. They're still good friendships. Just because you're not still best buddies doesn't mean you weren't good friends. And of course, friends that stay on the same wavelength with you, grow with you and continue to always be there for you are the greatest friendships of all.
I'm grateful for the friends I have today. I have great friends all around the world now. Although I can't see them all the time, I'm glad for technology because I can still keep in touch with them through Skype, e-mail and phone apps. While it's hard to keep in touch with everyone, it's still easy to remain friends. They still make me laugh, smile and make me feel comfortable. I can talk to them with ease and it's always nice to catch-up. Friendships definitely can NOT be gauged on how long you've known them or how often you see them. It's just whether you still act like friends when you see each other. If they treat you badly, use you or ignore you rather than trying to see you or keep in contact, then that's not a friend. You'd be better off not wasting your effort on that person. It would be better for you to try and see and speak to your real friends, and making new ones.
