What do friendships really provide for us?
Whether it’s a best friend or not, we all need some type of a friend. In good times and in bad times, through thick and thin, true friends are there for the long haul. Where would we be without the power and support of a friendship?
Friendships, with the right people, build us up in virtually
every aspect of our lives. They provide security when everything in our life seems uncertain. When go through periods in our lives things are out of
our control, it can be so frustrating when all we can do is just sit back
and watch events unfold. In light of these mishaps, it’s a blessing to know that with friendships we can get though those times
that seem too unbearable to endure. Just talking with those
friends can make those bad times
seem minuscule, almost like all your problems fade into thin air.
Friends also act as our confidantes
when we're faced with tough situations or decisions to make. A true friend will tell
it like it is; they will tell you the cold hard truth whether
you like it or not. Most act as a buffer between what you think, and what
outside people might think. This, too, is important because when faced with a
tough situation, a lot of people don’t know what to do because they are torn between
doing what others want, and what they want.
In my developmental psychology class
last semester, we learned about the importance of friendships in early to late
adolescence. Most people don’t understand the pressure that adolescents
feel from parents and family about what they feel the child should do. Adolescents
are so worried about what their superiors want for them, that they don’t stop to
think about what they really want, deep down inside. This is precisely why solid friendships are so important in an
adolescent’s life. True friends
know us the best, and don’t put their wants and needs before ours. Instead, they lift us up and tell us to follow our heart because they know that’s what
will make us the happiest.
It finally clicked: we are always faced with
trying to please others. This doesn’t just apply to adolescents, it applies to
everyone. I tweeted this week, “Friends should lift us up, not bring us down,”
which is what really got me thinking. I truly believe that with the power of our friends to bring
us up out of our darkest days and moments, anything is possible. Whatever the
case may be, sometimes the support of just family isn’t enough. Without the
support of my friends, today, I do not know where I would be. I would
not be the same person without them, that’s for sure, and for that I can’t thank them enough.