How To Be A Good Friend, As Told By My High School Journal
Being a good friend doesn't change as we get older.
So I have been thinking lately about what it means to be a friend. I think the most important attribute of a good friend is loyalty. A true friend sticks with you when you are not acting like your normal self. A true friend sticks by your side even when you are hurting them or acting like a complete jerk. It is a really hard thing to stand by your friend when you see them making mistakes or changing into a new person right before your eyes. It sucks and it hurts.
Surface friends are friends that are only there for you on the surface of things. When they see that you are doing well and you have something that they want they become your friend. Sucking up and acting like they love you so much and how great it would be to be friends. As soon as what they want is gone or you start to have a rough patch they move on and leave you in the dust. THAT SUCKS. Why waste time with people like this? Friendships are so important and they need to be chosen wisely. You can always tell who your true friends are when things get bad.
Just from observing some of the friendships around me they really amaze me. It is crazy to me that some people let other people walk all over them. It is so screwed up and it makes me sad that so many people have so little self-respect to ditch the friends that act like that. Instagram likes or being at the right party doesn't matter. Most of the time the "cool crowd" is shallow and actually doesn't care about you as a person. They care that they are seen with the right people and that they are made out to be such a big deal.
None of that matters! Life is so much more than that.
Why waste time and energy working so hard to impress someone. Girls especially want to impress other girls and feel confident. I even see girls becoming friends with girls that are vulnerable and insecure just so that they can build themselves up because they know that that girl has so confidence. It's as if you saw a really hungry puppy and you wave a bone in front of it to where it wants to come near you. Just as the dog gets close enough to you and builds up enough strength to bite for the bone you pull it away. It makes me sad to see this happening all around me.
Think long and hard about who your friends are. If something terrible happened to you today or your "social status" dropped would they still be there? Are they in the friendship because they love you or are they in it for what material things you have to offer? It can be a very hard line to see and to distinguish. I have had this happen to me a lot and trust me it is no fun.
Basically what I am getting at is be a good friend and choose good friends. Love your friends even when they are so hard to love. Be in the friendship for the person and not for the material things. Bring each other up and be positive! Surround yourself with positive people that have your best interest at heart.
I hope that all of you have good friends that you know are there for you. Hold on to those relationships so tight and be so thankful for them. Good friends are hard to find but when you get them they are worth more than anything!
Be happy and do something nice today
