Here's the thing.
You know how you always have that one person in your friend group who's more like a wise voice of reason that always knows what to say or do in certain situations? Yeah, not to toot my own horn, but that's me 70 percent of the time.
And within that 70 percent margin, I'm the shoulder to every great friend that I have. AND I LOVE THAT JOB. The thing is, my friends think I'm emotionless at times and it scares them because I start spewing some wise-a** psycho-babble. I get it. I tend to take on a detached tone of voice when I talk about my past, both the terrible, not-to-be-mentioned things and the unforgettable memories that I have. This freaks the buddies out.
And with that, they believe I don't reveal enough of myself, and that it's scary how much I milk out of them. "That's how easy you are to talk to," they say.
When I arrived to college, I sort of just became an adult. It wasn't by choice, I kind of just pulled my "adulting" pants up, put on my adult belt, shoes and blouse and just moseyed on into college.
Let me clarify something though - when I say adult, I mean uber responsible adult. For instance, I've have never gotten drunk. NOT ONCE.
I know, shocking. By now you're like, well this is one uptight little missy. I'm not, I SWEAR, as the peeps; I'm nothing if not a hoot (once again, not to toot my own horn). But within my awesome friend group I sort of became the mother of the family we formed. The one who took care of people when drunk, the one who babied them, the one who hugged them a little too hard, embarrassed them with mommy lines and the one with the scariest temper.
"Adulting" for me just sort of got easy. I got older a little faster than the average teenager and just sort of embraced it. And I love it. And I live it. And it's great.
And with time, I understood the reason behind my lioness behavior; I protect my cubs because I love them. I love learning about them, about the similar experiences we've been through, about the different lives that we lead and our intersecting perspectives.
I love the diversity within the friendships that I make. And what people don't realize is that when I do give them a shoulder, they give me one as well. They provide me with an objective lens into my own life. With that in mind, when I need a shoulder, my cubs provide me with many. And to them, I say thank you.
P.S. Stop being so scared of adult life, college people. Grow a pair and find yourself some lifelong friends like I did.
