Don’t you ever feel like your friends are the only thing keeping you sane in the incredible mess that is your life?

Friendship can mean very different things depending on who you ask. Some people see it as people they like to hang out with meeting up, other see them as family members, siblings from other parents, and others just as a relationship that was cultivated so long ago that even when they don’t see each other it’s still there. No matter what your take on friendship, we all have at least a friend in the world. It may not be the kind of relationship where you see each other more than once a week and know everything about each other to the point that you don’t have any more things to talk about. It may just be the kind of friendship that can go months and even years without sending each other a message, but when you see each other, it’s like time has never gone by. You may be apart in a physical way, but never in a sentimental one. 

Some people seem to be very judgy about where you met your friends, saying things like «you can’t be friends with your coworkers». That’s not true. You can be friends with whoever you want. Sometimes your best friend is your childhood friend who grew up with you, and your families are like one big family. But other times it’s just someone you met in line in the grocery store and hit it off with, or maybe someone that you used to encounter at the beauty salon, or even someone you met through an ex-partner. Anything can lead to you cultivating a friendship; the important thing is not how, but with whom. That person you like enough to consider them a friend. 

We use the word ‘friend‘ as if it meant something, as if anyone and everyone were our friend, but that is simply impossible. A friend is much more than just someone you know. It’s someone you love, you respect, you appreciate. Someone who has no reason to be by your side, as they are not family, nor do they want to marry you, but they still want to be a part of your life. You and that person have an incredible link that could be impossible to understand by anyone else. A friend is not ‘just a friend ‘; a friend is like a non-romantic soulmate, a forever link that grew out of compatibility in the strongest ways. So stop saying «they are just a friend»; the «just» makes it seem like they matter less as your friend, and it should be the other way around. They are your friend, and that is more than enough. So start appreciating your friends as they deserve it. It’s one of the most important relationships you could ever have, so stop underestimating the link between two good friends. It can be stronger than you have ever thought, sometimes even stronger than romantic relationships.