What do friendships really provide for us?

Whether it’s a best friend or not, we all need some type of a friend. In good times and in bad times, through thick and thin, true friends are there for the long haul. Where would we be without the power and support of a friendship?

Friendships, with the right people, build us up in virtually every aspect of our lives. They provide security when everything in our life seems uncertain. When go through periods in our lives things are out of our control, it can be so frustrating when all we can do is just sit back and watch events unfold. In light of these mishaps, it’s a blessing to know that with friendships we can get though those times that seem too unbearable to endure. Just talking with those friends can make those bad times seem minuscule, almost like all your problems fade into thin air.  

Friends also act as our confidantes when we're faced with tough situations or decisions to make. A true friend will tell it like it is; they will tell you the cold hard truth whether you like it or not. Most act as a buffer between what you think, and what outside people might think. This, too, is important because when faced with a tough situation, a lot of people don’t know what to do because they are torn between doing what others want, and what they want. 

In my developmental psychology class last semester, we learned about the importance of friendships in early to late adolescence. Most people don’t understand the pressure that adolescents feel from parents and family about what they feel the child should do. Adolescents are so worried about what their superiors want for them, that they don’t stop to think about what they really want, deep down inside. This is precisely why solid friendships are so important in an adolescent’s life. True friends know us the best, and don’t put their wants and needs before ours. Instead, they lift us up and tell us to follow our heart because they know that’s what will make us the happiest. 

It finally clicked: we are always faced with trying to please others. This doesn’t just apply to adolescents, it applies to everyone. I tweeted this week, “Friends should lift us up, not bring us down,” which is what really got me thinking. I truly believe that with the power of our friends to bring us up out of our darkest days and moments, anything is possible. Whatever the case may be, sometimes the support of just family isn’t enough. Without the support of my friends, today, I do not know where I would be. I would not be the same person without them, that’s for sure, and for that I can’t thank them enough.