Friendship

(A blog from my Facebook written on 03/31/11.)

FRIEND--noun
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter

Remember being young, when your friends were your whole life? When the worst part of the day was when your parents told you that you had to come inside for the night? When playing barbies and baking with your easy bake oven with your best friend was your favorite thing to do? Life was great. haha.

A true, genuine friend is hard to find these days. People have ulterior motives and sometimes it's easy to underestimate someone and the things they'll do to get ahead. Honestly, how many TRUE, ride or die, down-for-you-always-no-matter-what friends do you have? I have two. TWO. I'm not talking acquaintances or people you just chill with. I'm talking about the people that you love. The people that you can tell anything to. The ones that you run to with your problems, and value their opinions. The people that you would do anything for and you know they would do the same in return.

When I was younger, I was very naive. I thought that all of my "friends", the people I hung out with everyday, had my best interest at heart. That wasn't always the case. I don't trust people easily, AT ALL. You have to earn my trust. Once you break it, you're going to have to jump through hoops of fire and it'll take a long time for you to get it back. If ever. I used to get close to people quickly. Then my heart would get broken when I found out they said something about me behind my back, or told someone something I told them in confidence, or did something else to betray me. At the time, it really hurt, but it taught me a good lesson.

You need to be careful who you call your friend. You need to be extra careful who you call your best friend. I hate when people throw the phrase "best friend" around.  

Have you ever thought about all the different types of friends there are?? 

Acquaintance ;; An acquaintance is someone that you know, but isn't a close friend. Someone that you say "hi, how are you" to when you see them, but you don't know a lot about them. You don't normally spend time with them. You wouldn't call them with a problem or talk to them about personal issues. This person is the kind of person that helps you get through school or work, but you usually wouldn't hang out with them outside of that.

The Occasional Buddy ;; This person is the one that you hang out with once in a while. You aren't very close, but they are higher up than an acquaintance.

Childhood Friend ;; A childhood friend is someone you grew up with. A person you've known for years.

The Friend With Benefits ;; I think we all know what this type of friend is. This is the booty call, the friend that you kick it with, no strings attached. Often, these "friends" develop into something more.

The "Fun Friend" ;; This group is the group of people (or the person) that you hang out with to have a good time. You are not super close, but you hang out with these people somewhat often. These people don't show deep emotional support for you. The "fun group" consists of people that you chill with, drink with, shop with, whatever, but you wouldn't sit down and have a heart-to-heart with them.

Professional Friend ;; The professional friend is someone from work, or someone that could help you get ahead in your career. You wouldn't get crazy around them. The purpose of the friendship is mainly for networking. Professional/business etiquette must be practiced around them. Sometimes these friendships develop into something deeper, and they become closer to you.

Then of course, we have an actual best friend. A best friend is a person who's friendship you value above everyone else's. This person is ride or die, on your side no matter what. If you get in a fight with someone and you say that grass is blue, this person will back you up 100% even if they know you're wrong. You consider this person family. You would trust this person with your kids if something ever happened to you. You share things with this person that you aren't comfortable sharing with anyone else. You have great memories with this person and want them in your life forever. There aren't many people out there like this anymore. If you do have even ONE true friend, you truly are blessed. A best friend is loyal, supportive, HONEST, trustworthy, patient, and accepting. They listen without judging. These people are rare. Consider yourself lucky if your best friend possesses all of these qualities.

No matter what type of friendship you have with someone, remember, friendship is give and take. Value the people that you consider friends and BE the type of friend that you would want to have.