The definition of a friend in the Oxford Dictionary is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. Friendship can simply be defined as knowing someone and liking them as much as they like you. According to the definition, you don't have to stay up until 4 am while your friend cries and eats all of your ice cream because their heart was broken. If I based my friends solely on that definition, I would have a load of friends. I know plenty of people and I'm sure they like me as much as I like them. But I can't just accept that definition as a true definition of companionship. There is so much more to being a good friend than knowing someone.
In my life, I've had plenty of friends. I definitely always had a best friend. However, they all come and go. Most of them didn't stick around. I learned later on in life that they couldn't stay in my life because they didn't know how to be a true friend. The friends I had in the past only knew how to use me as a good friend, but when I needed them, they didn't know how to let me use them. Just because you went places with me and stayed over doesn't mean you were a good friend. Sure, I had fun with these past friends, but fun doesn't define a friend either.
Being a friend is being willing to be completely selfless and being willing to give up your time to be there for your friend. It's making you laugh when you want to cry. It's telling them how much you appreciate them. It's not judging them when they tell you a deep secret and it's willingly telling them your biggest secrets, too.
Being a friend means you can't just hear someone talking. You have to listen. If your friend asks for advice, give them the advice they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. You should be brutally, and lovingly honest because you care for their well-being.
You help them out because you want to see them prosper, not because you feel like you owe them anything. You take their side even when they're wrong. You always have their back because friends are supposed to be there.
Friends are the people who you love and their presence makes your heart smile. If you don't feel like that around your friends, you should find new friends. It's hard to lose friends, but it's easier when you realize that they weren't really a "friend" after all. They were just somebody that you knew and liked. Don't be a friend by definition. Be a friend that is willing to help or console in someone's darkest hours.
Don't just know your friends and like them. Appreciate them and be there for them.
