Friendship is a topic that I could talk about for hours. Whether it’s discussing the importance of having a good group of people around you or providing insight on how to recognize when your friend might actually be a secret hater, I’m there. However, it’s easy to get caught up in your negative experiences or hypothetical situations and forget to appreciate those that you have in your life.
In this article, I’m going to highlight three amazing things that my friends have done for me and why it means the absolute most! I understand that these things are what friends should do, but they still mean so much.
1. For being each other’s number one hype-woman.
As I’m writing this article, I just had a conversation with some of my friends about job opportunities and how we were nervous that we haven’t accomplished as many things as others have. This naturally resulted in a conversation of us all hyping each other up and highlighting each other’s strengths and accomplishments. For a moment, I doubted one of my accomplishments, but one of my friends pulled out my program information, extra-curriculars and qualities about myself to prove why I deserve to be where I am. She really acted as if she was writing my resume! Although this might seem odd to some, it’s something that we all do for one another all the time. In general, we are our hardest critics, so do yourself a favour and surround yourself with positive people. The last thing you need is more negativity!
2. For not treating each other as competition.
Quick story time for y’all that really explains this one. I fondly remember an experience where a friend of mine and I had tried out for the same club position in school. I later learned that I got the position, and she hadn’t. I was happy that I got the position, but I was also sad that my friend wasn’t going to be joining me, not only because she’s my friend but because she would’ve done an amazing job! I didn’t want to seem like I was bragging so I didn’t want to mention it or make a big deal out of it to her. When my friend learned that I got the position, she smiled soooo big and was genuinely so happy for me. She was so proud of me and had the most positive reaction to the news, and I was so taken aback. This is a story I like to bother her with all the time and she always says “What else would I have done? It’s not like you didn’t take me for the position?” And while this is true, I still appreciated her reaction so much. It’s really easy to get caught up in your emotions and project onto other people, and frankly, I would’ve understood if she didn’t have a positive reaction. But the fact that she was happy for me even though she was upset made me realize that she was someone that was going to be in my life for a long time. *Spoiler alert: she still is!
3. We help each other grow.
My friends and I are similar in certain aspects (the important stuff like being respectful, compassionate towards one another, having really odd senses of humour, etc.) and are completely opposite in other aspects. I have a mixture of friends who are early birds and night owls; people who like pineapple on their pizza and those who don’t; more introverted individuals versus extroverted individuals; people who have Starbucks addictions versus people who get nervous every time they order even though they get the same three drinks.Take a wild guess as to where I fit in on that last one. Despite our differences, I can easily say that each of my friends has inspired me in different ways. One of my friends encouraged me to be more in touch with my emotions and another showed me how to value my time by myself. Another inspired me to not care what other people think about me and one showed me how to maintain a friendship even when you live provinces apart.
Having supportive friends seems like common sense and it’s easy to think that your friends are supportive, when in reality they might not actually be. The things that your friends say to you in passing, the way they react to your accomplishments, the way they talk about you when you aren’t around – these things help you realize how they truly feel about you. For me, I’m finally at a point where I trust that everyone in my life is here because they actually like care about me because they prove it to me in so many ways. And for that I am so grateful.