There are people in your life who walk in, teach you a few lessons, and leave to go on and change other people. Then there are the people who bust in, make themselves at home, and never leave. Those are the kind of people who shape who you are, and support you throughout life. If you’re lucky, you meet these people when you’re young and have the privilege of growing up with their love and support.

I am lucky enough to have four best friends, and they’re all completely different. We each met in different ways and over time have become inseparable. The reason we all get along is well is because we are vastly different, and each bring different opinions and ideas the table.

There’s the adventurous one who never let’s our friend group get bored. She always chimes in with an exciting story to tell about her latest life event. She is full of emotion and always has a back up plan in case thins get slow. She makes me feel like I can do anything. She never lets us feel down because we are way too busy chasing after her as she runs full-speed towards the next adventure.

There’s the encouraging one who makes sure we all know exactly how wonderful we are. Whenever we question our worth she is right there ready to remind us of every goal we’ve reached, struggle we’ve overcome, or skill we possess that makes us unique and valuable. She is our biggest cheerleader and makes us feel loved and powerful. Without her we would be a mess of self-consciousness, but luckily she knows just how to cheer us up and make us see our true worth.

There’s the compassionate one who will drop everything to listen to us. She will hear every word we say as we complain about our struggles over a cup of coffee. She’s the girl you go to when you just need to vent, and she will add just the right amount off to the conversation but always makes it about you. When you need a shoulder to cry on, she’s right there with a box of tissues and a romantic comedy. When you want to celebrate and talk about how amazing the entire world is, she will jump with joy for you and share in your happiness. She can relate to you no matter what you feel.

There’s the passionate one who is the most driven person you’ll ever meet. She’s always double-booked and running off to another meeting or event, but she still has time to inspire you and love you. She knows what she wants and how to get there, and she can help you do the same. She can come up with a game plan to help you succeed and knows what s best for you, event when you don’t want to admit it. She’s the girl you go to when you are questioning your calling or how to get to where you want to be. Her desire to reach her goals makes you feel like anything is possible.

Each friend group has it’s own set of skills and traits that make it unique. The beautiful part of being involved in a friend group like this is sitting down and really appreciating each friend’s skill, knowing that you have the ability to benefit from each of them, and let them change your life as you power through together.