Friends are some of the most important people in your life. I know, for me at least, I would not be who I am today without my friends.

Maybe you’re like me. You’re a social person, and you can make friends with just about anyone. Awesome! Or maybe you’re the opposite of me, where you only feel like you have a few friends. Regardless, you hopefully consider your friends important. We aren’t meant to go through this life alone. Friends help you through both the good and bad times.

I have friends who have come into my life at different times, and we’re friends for different reasons. I feel like I make similar types of friends, so it’s only logical that my friends would get along, even if they had never met. However, I hadn’t really had a chance to test this until recently. Last week, my sister and I planned to go to King’s Island. I asked one of my best friends from high school to go with us, but I didn’t want three people. (Three sucks for riding roller coasters). So my sister asked one of her friends to go, but she had plans. I then asked one of my college friends to go who lives in the area.

She was able to go, so we got ourselves a fourth. Now, my sister obviously knew my best friend from high school, and she had met this friend from college. That wasn’t an issue. If there was going to be any issue at all, it was going to be with my two friends. Fortunately, my friends got along pretty well. They probably won’t ever become best friends, and that’s okay. But there were a couple times I just sat back and watched them laugh at something together or even just ride a ride together. I didn’t feel bad or like I was spending too much time with any one person.

I’ve already come to this realization before, but the King’s Island trip was the first time it was put into action. Adding new friends does not mean losing old ones. It means extending your circle. I’ve known my roommate for a year, and I consider her one of my best friends. But then I also have people who I have literally grown up with. how long you have been friends with someone has no affect on the quality of their friendship.

For me, I have people I’m closer to from college (who I’ve only known for two years at most) than I do for high school (which considering my high school class didn’t change all the much, would be six years at this point at the very least). But, on the other side of the equation, there are people from both high school and college that I don’t talk to at all.

My life has changed since I’ve entered college. One of those changes is my circle of friends. Honestly, I don’t talk to as many people as I used to, and I’m okay with that. The people that I do talk to are people that I trust. So while it may have decreased in size, it has increased in quality.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather have 1 good friend than 100 bad ones. Loyalty and honesty are two of the most important traits I look for in friends. Even if it hurts at the time, I want my friends to be able to tell me when I’m out of line. My friends help keep me in check, and they can only do that by calling me out when I need it. But I also want them to be loyal for when I need backup. Those are two traits that I aim for myself; I don’t expect my friends to do something that I myself can’t. I’ve told friends before that I won’t walk away unless given a reason to. Yes, I have had some people give me that reason, and I have walked away. But, for the most part, my friends are loyal. And I’m loyal to them.

If I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s that I need friends with certain qualities. You can have your own personality, and that’s great. You influence both my world and yours. I’ll befriend anyone, as long as they have the qualities I’m looking for. Same goes for romantic relationships. One of my highest priority standards in a partner is that I have to know them for at least two years. This gives me a chance to see them in all situations and experience most emotions. That’s how I feel about my friends as well. I’ll be an acquaintance and be civil until I can get a good judge of their character. Friends have hurt me before. I need people on my side that I can count on. My trust is easy to gain and hard to lose, but once you push me over the line, my trust is nearly impossible to regain.

Physical appearance and personality don’t matter to me to be my friend. You can look any way you want to and be whoever you want to be. What matters to me is how you act. I have friends in all stages of life, but they all share a couple common characteristics. Loyalty and honesty are probably my biggest two traits. I have a friend who used to live next to me my freshman year of college. She and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we’re respectful, honest, and loyal. As a result, even if we disagree, we can come together and still have a good time. It’s a really interesting friendship, but she has definitely influenced my life.

You don’t have to agree with your friends all the time. That’s okay. People fight and argue. What’s important is being able to reconcile and come together. You’re stronger together.

(Also, the image is just a sampling of some of my closest friends. It is by no means all of them. Here’s a better picture of it  )

Let me know if you have any thoughts or comments!
Love,
Kim ♥