Friendship — Ms. Grasshopper

Friendship is a kinda weird concept to describe. Not everyone passes through our life and becomes our friends; some stay friends and some become lovers or family. For those who are fortunate enough to find the kind of friendships that had been through thick and thin with you, well? Congratulation!

Luckily, I am one of those fortunate people. Life is not perfect. When you find something so happy, life always finds a way to destroy that happiness of yours. Of course, there are some toxic people in my life; but I always think I am one the fortunate to have friends who stay with me for better or worse.

It has always been a hit or miss for me when it comes to friendship. Some people I have encountered in my life and thought: "We're probably just going to meet in a social environment; we only connect on a different level, or we wouldn't become friends". But sometimes, giving that friendship another shot, meet them in a different environment, and they are just different somehow, and the energy surrounding us is different.

I have a few co-workers who still stay as good, close friends; they are lovely people to meet anytime, outside of work or just for a social gathering. Or a few friends since college and high school; some I have always been friends with, and some I just recently met. Odd relationships sometimes turn into something very worth your time.

A quality friendship is when you are willing to take the time and energy to hang out with someone. And you're enjoying the time that you have spent together, not just doing it because you have to. A forced friendship or any kind of relationship never last, because if you’re not enjoying it then why go through that discomfort again?

We all have different groups of friends: best friends, co-workers, and social friends… my best friend and I have stayed friends for at least 12 years now, AT LEAST. We have known each other since middle school and had the same giraffe pencil case on the first day of school. We didn’t become friends at first, but we grew a lot closer when I studied abroad in Texas. It's crazy that it has been 12 years. I have another best friend, and I knew him since college. Never thought that we would be this close, and it has been 8-years now. The day he graduated (he graduated before I did because he was older), he wrote me a letter, and I remembered I was crying for hours and couldn't stop, because I didn’t want him to leave me there. I never thought I will need someone other than my family, but they are family to me, and I need them always.

Some friends stayed with you for a long time simply because your energy levels matched, our ideals in life matched, and similar hobbies matched too. Sometimes, even though a lot of things have a match, we still grow apart due to different life choices that we make, and to make every relationship “work”, you have to put down at least some effort. Whether texting, talking or spending quality time together. It has always been the efforts that count; the act of taking care of the relationships is what counts.