It's important to find good friends.
That's a simple sentence, and it's one that many of us (hopefully) already know. But every now and then we need a reminder of the simple things, because they become so rudimentary, we forget to look out for them.
As my sister goes off to college, to start up a new portion of her life, I realize that you're never too advanced enough to not need a review of the basics. Her passage into young adulthood makes me take a second look at my life,
Where am I now? Did I do the things I wanted to do? Can I still do them? (You always can.) Am I being the person I want to be? Who are my friends? Do I have friends who will support me?
Answer these questions and sometimes you realize that you did and you didn't. You found a mix, a half-baked attempt, which is perfectly acceptable and normal. I personally, despise these kinds of questions, but also I think, we need them.
Okay, onto the friends part.
I have recently realized that their are people who will always be there for you, those who will be there for you most of the time, and those who will be there for you when it is convenient for them. I think that if this were a spectrum, people would fluctuate between these three categories, but more or less they'd remain in their set parameters.
Sometimes I myself do fall in the grey area, but as long as I acknowledge it and correct it, it's okay. As long as I be who I want to be, for the most part, I'll be okay.
The golden rule I always live by is this:
Do to others as you would have done to you.
Seems simple. We all learned it in kindergarten, right? but how many of us actually remember it? And more so remember to employ it? Turns out not so many.
I made a hard decision yesterday which I then realized wasn't so difficult after all. If you keep this rule in mind, you'll no longer just be thinking of yourself; you'll think of others along with yourself. Being selfless isn't about only thinking of others, it's about thinking of others in terms of you, along with you, together, and sometimes that requires a little sacrifice. But it's worth it if you can not only make yourself happy but another as well, a good friend, your parents, a total stranger. You'll find that your life and theirs will be a lot brighter. Feed the world kindness and perhaps something will come of it.
In my opinion, we must live towards these friendships we have, and sustain them, build bridges as if the tide will rise any day and swallow this lone island we call "me". Bridges, if built correctly, with two sets of hands, can be indestructible against forces of nature. If you find the right friends and stick to them, you can defy anything.
