I know you are grateful for your friends already, especially if you have good friends. I encourage you to reach out to your friends individually to let them know just how thankful you are to have them in your life. This post is about being thankful for friendships in general. Past, present and future! Here are 10 of the best things about friendships!
1. They keep your secrets.
Right from grade school when your friend didn’t tell the teacher that it was you who took the cookie off her desk, to high school when they didn’t tell anyone about that time you asked out your crush and were rejected, through to adult life when they didn’t tell anyone the secret with much bigger consequences. It’s unlikely these were the same friend, but each of them had your back when you needed it, was there for you and laughed with you, not at you.
2. They support you.
Not only don’t your friends judge you, they actively support you. Think of the friend who lent you her designer suit for that interview, or the friend who picks up your kid from school when you are sick and can’t go yourself. The friend who answers no matter what time you call and the friend who is full of endless encouragement and belief in you even when your belief in yourself is running low.
3. Loving you.
Some friendships are full of roses and expressions of love endlessly, whereas others are more stoic. But a true friend loves you and you feel that. Think of that time they surprised you with tickets to your favourite band, or how you are always the first person they want to spend time with. Think of the hugs and the tears of pain and laughter shared. Your friends have loved you in just the ways you needed when nobody else could.
4. The Good Times
Most of our favourite memories involve our friends. Childhood memories and adult memories alike, friends are what has made life fun. Evenings in and evenings out, events and parties and concerts. Laughing endlessly at nothing an everything. Making good decisions that turned out bad and making bad decisions that made amusing memories. Think of photos and the big cheesy grins and being your full unfiltered self. Friendships are worth their weight in gold for the good times alone.
5. Choosing you.
Your friends didn’t love you because they had to, but because of all the strangers waiting to become potential friends, they loved you the best! Then they kept on choosing you for as long as it lasted. Even if it didn’t last forever, it feels pretty awesome to be chosen at all!
6. Growing with you
Friendships that have lasted, will have morphed and changed. You will have grown as a person and so will your friend, and your friendship will have grown and stretched to allow each of you the freedom to be yourselves independently while still staying connected. It may have grown through being at different colleges, dating different people, through different careers, marriages and kids, or even through living in different countries. Friendships that grow with you always fit!
7. Teaching you.
Regardless of how much parents and teaches try to guide and teach us, some of the most important lessons about love and life come from your friendships. They hurt sometimes and you have to navigate that. You learn accountability and honesty and communication and about expectations. They teach you about your limits and peer pressure and acceptance. Friendships are not practise for other relationships (romantic or professional) but they do allow us to build the foundations we need to read other people, be appropriate and empathetic and tactful. Where would we be without those life skills?
8. Listening to you.
Friends are the people who listen to us the most, because they are the ones we talk to the most. They hold space for you to be who you are and feel what you feel. They don’t solve problems for you or judge you, they just act as a sounding board for crazy ideas, heartbreak, venting and anger, and just general random conversation so you don’t feel alone. They don’t tire of hearing you talk about the same things over and over, they are just happy to be there for you and have you be there to listen to them in return. Feelings and thoughts can be overwhelming when kept inside, so a friendship is the safest place to air them!
9. Forgiveness.
In a true deep friendship, there is inevitably times when you let each other down. When you mess up and really hurt someone as a result. Not only do these friendships allow you to feel safe in learning to be humble and apologise, they also offer forgiveness in ways that soothe the soul. They do this because they know you and they know the good in you and they believe that you didn’t mean to hurt them. They also teach you to forgive too, as you realise how much better forgiveness feels than grudges and anger.
10. Acceptance.
Friendships offer a sense of acceptance that helps us accept ourselves. Our parents might not accept our career choices, sexuality or lifestyle, size, partner or many other things, but friendships tend to take you as you are. And in that beautiful acceptance of theirs, you learn to accept yourself just the way you are. To see your good qualities, to see what you have accomplished and to just be there with you wherever you are on your journey.
There is so much to be thankful for about friendships. They bring so much happiness and peace. So please give thanks to your friends today and acknowledge all your friendships and how they influenced the person you are today. Chances are you wouldn’t be the same without them!
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for being a friend, family member, fan or follower. I am truly grateful.
❤ Love,
Your Best Friend ForNever
xx
