Real friends

Friends are people who turn nothing into everything, who make dinner tables interesting places and let you cry on their new sofa. Friends are the antidote to the meek and low reality of life, they are magical and colourful and bursting with encouragement. Friends are rare.

I believe there are friends for everything, the ones that keep you young, the ones who pour out good advice, those oozing with confidence and those you rot away with during winter. Every so often though, there are these friends that shift through all the crap and see you as you are, all that you are, and love you through it.

I don’t know where i'd be without those people, guiding lights that somehow found me in life. In my best friendships, there is no jealousy, no embarrassment and no ego. I read somewhere that there are very few people we can tell our good news or achievements to without it seeming like we’re showing off - I hope my friends can always ‘show off’ to me.

I remember in college, one of my closest friends got a call her dad had been in an accident and rushed to the hospital. We dropped everything and took e-bikes halfway across the city to get to him. During that bike ride, we got chased down by the police for our lack of helmets and irresponsible use of the pavement. Luckily for us, they were running on foot and the most logical thing we could do was speed up. Her dad tuned out fine and the residue of that effort and humour stuck around far longer than the pain of the moment.

It can sometimes be a challenge to avoid neglecting friendships but don’t, they are worth every ounce of effort. My friendships have given me a greater sense of self than I knew possible and taught me more about love, teamwork and selflessness than any self-help book. It is a gift to know someone beyond their attributes and characteristics, to bank thousands of conversations and exchange glances on a random Tuesday afternoon in public and smile knowing you are seen, you are loved.