I’m thankful for all of my friendships. Regardless of whether or not we are still friends at the current moment, I am grateful for the experiences I’ve had in every single of them. I am thankful for all of the awesome pictures, memories, car rides, and Denny’s trips.

But I’m also thankful to the friends who have hurt me. The friends who have taught me tough lessons about life through being awful friends and equally awful human beings. I’m thankful that they have shaped me into the cautious person that I am - I’m thankful that they taught me where to draw the line with self-disclosure. I’m thankful that they taught me that you cannot get along with everyone you meet.

That in particular, by far, has been the hardest thing for me to understand and learn. Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to be friends with everyone, or at least acquaintances. I’ve always been taught to treat everyone with regards to the golden rule, but unfortunately, not everyone was taught the same thing (either that or people don’t take that rule to heart). It’s hard to stomach the fact that someone doesn’t like me, or that someone has been saying mean things about me behind my back.

But still, I thank those people. Yes you hurt me, yes you have changed me in many ways, but in my eyes, it was for the best. Who I’ve been with has shaped me into who I am, and I don’t regret any friendship I’ve ever had.

Because I learned from it and grew from it. I learned to understand what kind of person someone is right away, and to stay away from certain people. I learned that I should never get back at someone with petty jabs. I learned that generally, I shouldn’t try and get back or get even with people who have done me wrong. I learned to let it go and move on to bigger and better things.

So thank you to anyone out there who has done me wrong; you’ve helped me quite a lot.