It seems as if life is filled with constant change. Everyone and everything around us is continuously changing and unfortunately, that means we change, too; however, that does not always have to be a bad thing. We all change, we all grow, we all mature and our personal experiences influence the rate at which we transform into greater beings.

As we grow and change we outgrow habits, hobbies, desires and sometimes, unfortunately, we outgrow people. But, I guess that's because we spend a lot of time finding our true selves. We dig deep and sometimes reveal parts of our past that we never intended to bring into the daylight. We use our experiences and hardships to build our exterior and allow only a few who we call friends to really see our interior. We never expect those people to be a part of the never ending change of life, but after all, it is just a part of growing up.

We all have choices to make as we age and many times, that leads to friends taking opposite paths in life. Sometimes, this means that the goofballs that were by your side for years are no longer there and other times it means you all end up on the same path in the future. Whatever the outcome tends to be, we learn a valuable lesson about our friendships as we are forced to put on our big boy pants, and that lesson is those who want to be in our lives make it known. They don't aimlessly spout words, but they show how strong your relationship is through their actions.

Another lesson we come to learn is that the quality of our friendships will always be far more beneficial than the quantity. As we get older, we tend to be drawn towards those we relate to, those who are going through similar experiences, and we drift farther away from materialistic relationships. We truly start to value the people in our lives who choose to stick by our sides and ride the waves of life with us. We start to understand who sincerely is there for us and who tends to come around only when there's hot new gossip or they need something from us.

I think one of the most important changes we make as we age is learning empathy and its true meaning. In learning to accept ourselves and our own flaws, we learn to accept others, but some people take longer than others to learn this; some people never learn to empathize with others and this causes even the strongest of friendships to drift apart.

In every friendship we make and in every friendship we lose, there truly is a lesson. Every being comes in our lives for a reason. Some come into our lives to stay a lifetime and other come to teach us about ourselves and push us to grow and morph into the best version of ourselves. Whatever the reason, it's important to count our blessings and value the quality of our friendships. Wherever life takes us, whatever stage of our life we are in, those who want to be there will make no excuses to be there and those who don't care to be there will give you every excuse in the book.

So, get out there and stick up for the friendships you truly believe in and don't be afraid to voice what you need in your friendships. Those who want to be there won't be scared off by your opinions and as you grow and change. Remember to cherish the few that see and love the real you. We don't get a million best friends, but in a lifetime we sure do get a few really great ones. Don't forget to tell them how much they mean to you!