10 years is a long time. It's nearly half of my life so far. And I am blessed that my two closest friends have been by my side for that long. It blows my mind that we have made it through so many life changes without giving up on one another. To commemorate 10 years of friendship, I've been reflecting heavily on what friendship means and what makes it last. These longstanding friendships have taught me so much- here's a short list of what I've learned through the years.

1) There is no such thing as secrets. 

When you've been friends for years and years, you can't keep any information under wraps. Even hiding a bad mood is impossible. I've noticed that even slight visual cues can give away their feelings and opinions. This can be a good and bad thing. On one hand, I always know what they are thinking. But that also means that pulling off surprises for one another is virtually impossible, and I can't hide anything from them for any extended period of time. Honestly, after knowing one another for so long, even the most protected secrets are exposed within a couple hours.

2) Sometimes the most ridiculous fights can lead to major opportunities to learn and grow. 

Clearly, after 10 years of being best friends, we've endured our fair share of disputes and fights. Though they are typically petty and resolve themselves rather quickly. We've been in one or two serious arguments. I'll go ahead and admit it- I'm a very stubborn, opinionated individual who absolutely hates being wrong. And for most of my early life, I always refused to admit when I was incorrect. There have been fights involving the three of us where we have all felt strongly in opposite directions, and in order to save our friendship, we had to come to a compromise. It took nearly losing the most important people in my life for me to realize that putting your pride aside is not a sign of weakness.

3) Staying in and being lazy bums together is usually more fun than extravagant nights out. 

To be fair, we have had some legendary nights out bar-hopping and causing all kinds of chaos, but some of the nights that really stand out to me the most were spent lounging around our apartment. When you have very close bonds with people, you don't need to constantly parade around in public, go fancy places or always have an activity planned. We can have equally as much fun just watching YouTube videos and drinking wine at home. That's one thing you truly realize when you're friends for this long. It's not the things you're doing that make moments special, it's the people you're doing them with.

4) The people you surround yourself with will shape the person you become. 

Whether you want to believe it or not, it is absolutely true. The company you keep reflects who you are. It only makes sense that after spending an immense amount of time with one another, your personalities start to blend together. I've caught myself subconsciously doing things a certain way in order to please them (on top of being super close friends, we live together) and adopting their mannerisms.

5) A perfect friendship does not require perfect people. 

Conner, Sherelle, and I all have our strengths and weaknesses. Everyone does. We acknowledge our own flaws, shortcomings and issues. And I know we all have things we wish we could change about each other. I know some of my habits bother them, and their habits sometimes get on my nerves. But even when they annoy, frustrate or upset me, I know that at the end of the day, these are the people I want to put up with forever.

A decade of friendship is a serious accomplishment. I have learned so much over the years about myself, the meaning of friendship, loyalty and unconditional love. And I couldn't be more proud of us for sticking through the good, bad, and the ugly together!