We are quick to say that someone is our friend or our best friend even, but do we really sit down and think about what we are really saying when we say someone is our friend? The person who sits by you in your English class and talks to you only about your essays probably isn’t your friend. On the same token, someone who you have known for year, but will never move a muscle when you are in pain isn’t your friend either.

We are all guilty of overusing this very casual word, but maybe we shouldn’t be. Calling someone your friend that obviously isn’t can be detrimental to you. The whole premise of friendship is symbiotic companionship in which the friends help each other grow and live. When you falsely call someone a friend, they feed off of you like a parasite. They often make you help them, but will never return the favor.

That isn’t someone you should consider your friend or consider being around in general. These types of relationships are actually toxic to your life and will inevitably hurt you in the long run. Having a big heart is beautiful, but there is no use in wasting energy on people who never really appreciate you as a person. These people just bring you down when you should be focusing all your energy on people that lift you up and help you grow. Helping them when they need it is still great, but never put yourself in harms way or compromise self-focus to help someone who will not do the same for you.

A lot of the time we really mean that this person is our acquaintance: someone we may know and like but not someone who we trust with our lives. It is good to have acquaintances. I’m not saying don’t have them or don’t do favors for them. By all means do them favors, have great conversations with them, just don’t assume they have your back 100 percent of the time.

Late trips to Waffle House. 5 A.M. phone calls. Movie nights. Endless laughter. Crying in front of them in Taco Bell. That is what friendship is about. A friend is someone who is always there for you. They laugh with you. They cry with you. They get in trouble with you. If you come to them with a problem, they will do everything in their power to help. They watch hours of "The Office" with you and when you are finished, they will say, “Wanna watch it again?” They will help you and dry your tears. A friend is someone who is always there for you and will never let you down. Do not water that down. Friends are the people that care about you most in the world and will never want to see you fail. Friendship is beautiful and it takes a special kind of connection to be considered friendship. Don’t take it for granted; use the word friend correctly.