One friend told me that friendship is "the little things to acknowledge another person's existence and trust."

Another friend of mine said that a friend is "someone who you can't get tired of talking to and being around."

I, for one, tend to be picky with who my friends are. Notably, I am an introvert and I am shy, but I am careful with who I open up to. I can meet and talk to a classmate and we can be on good terms, but I am distinct with who becomes close to me. Who I can be comfortable with?

I can count three friends off the top of my head. Three real friends. Maybe to you, that is very little. Maybe it is more than what you have. To be honest, it can seem a bit lonely, but I would rather have those few close people than too many people. I think I'd feel overwhelmed thinking about who I can truly rely on. Some people have a lot of friends, and that's great too!

To me, a friend is just someone whom I can regularly hold conversations with and hang out with. But, a true friend is someone that I can confide in and someone that I can't imagine losing any time soon. It's someone who I can check up on at any time of any day and it feels normal to do so. It's not just someone who I see in class.

So, we come to the point of the difference in someone being a friend and someone being a "true friend." Have you ever internally considered someone an acquaintance but you vocally refer to them as a friend? I think that this is because, as humans, we don't want to feel lonely. So, it feels best to have someone know that you consider them a friend or knowing that you are considered someone's friend. If there is someone I only speak to in class and can get food with afterward, I can consider them a friend. I just know my distinction between a real friendship and one that is there for the convenience of having someone to enjoy time with.

Not everyone will be there for me if I am in some trouble, and that's fine to acknowledge! I accept that pretty well because I know that my closest friends are the ones who will be able to help. There are people who have so many friends to talk to that it makes me wonder if they've ever thought of who is actually a very close friend - or are they all considered very good friends?

I like to think that "friend" is a loose term that we throw around for anyone that we can talk to and hang out with. Is it really that simple but in our minds, we distinguish who is a companion and who is a real friend?

There are so many questions for people to consider, and I think that all depends on your personality! It's just your way of thinking. Do you need to have a deeper emotional connection to have a friendship? Do you need to regularly see each other? Is a friend a person who will be there when you are in trouble?