What About Your Friends?
I'm sure everyone has a few good friends they met in kindergarten right? You slid down slides together, and played hide and go seek until you couldn't play anymore. Those same friends went on to middle school with you and some of you even made it to high school together.
Friendship is sometimes a little more complex than we like to admit. I mean after the slides and swings, there's sometimes back stabbing, lying, sneak dissing and so much more. On the flip side, there's unbreakable bonds, trust, truth, and support. Growing up we think everybody is a friend to us when in all actuality, this just isn't true.
It is so important to understand that not everyone will be or can be your friend. Just because you have a few things in common and go to the same nail tech or beauty salon, doesn't mean you're friends. When you look up the word friend in the dictionary, you'll find "a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection".
You might have a relationship with a family member, but not a friendship. You can even have a husband or wife, but not have a friend in your spouse. You might hear someone say "not only is she my sister, she is also my friend". This lets us know that friendship is thought of as a separate entity in relationships. It's like a huge bonus 😊
What I have learned over the years about friendship is that they can be so toxic if you aren't careful. That's right! Toxic friendships are a real thing and in order to truly live your best life, you must rid yourself of the negativity. You want friends in your life who are genuine and authentic. You want friends who tell you the truth in love, support your dreams, encourage you on your journey and celebrate your successes out loud. You don't want friends who laugh at your pain, thrive off of your insecurities and talk about you behind your back.
Often times we hear people say, "good friends are hard to find", but I disagree. Good friends are everywhere! You just have to know what they look like. We grow up and we don't always have good models for things like friendship and so we think some things are okay when they are not.
These poor models might also cause us not to be the best kinds of friends either. I guess this means we must first be the kinds of friends we desire to have. Be kind, be supportive, don't hate and love the people in your life for real. You will find that the friendships you build, actually strengthen the sisterhoods, marriages and other relationships you have greatly!
Friends aren't perfect because people aren't perfect, but we can choose to work daily to be better and in turn this will make us better friends.
What about your friends?