Changing Meanings of Friendship #Day7

Well let me be dead honest with you all, when I thought of writing this article, all I could really think of was my own experience. I didn't really have anything general to preach but just my own experience to share. So let me kick off with that first

Firstly, let me make it absolutely clear that although I did have a few really great friends uptill I was a teenager but the real meaning and understanding of the complexities of a friendship or any relationship for that matter did not come to me until I was around twelve or thirteen. So I am just gonna start from there. Well that was the time when I had a pretty big group of friends which was because I easily made friends with anyone I found nice and amiable. I was an extrovert at heart. I did not like belonging to one fixed group of people and that obviously came with its own pros and cons. Pros being I could fit into almost every group and a very big con which although did not come out to be that huge a thing then but only becomes much of a bigger deal as I now grow up. The con was that fitting into almost every group had like another side to the coin. I was never truly embraced by any of the groups I spent my time with and I did not have friends whom I deeply had a connection with.

The realization of this con came as I got into situations where I needed people to stand up to me, help me out and be there for me whenever required even if they were really small things. I realized that although I had many friends to share a shallow conversation with, there was nobody who was truly there for me in such situations.

Around the same time I made a new best friend. I had known her for quite some time but not well enough to have a close friendship with. But when we got to know each other properly, it almost instantly striked a connection. Our bond made me experience for the very first time what true friendship felt like. She is that one friend whom I can vent my feelings out to and be carefree about not being judged.

And so as this realization dawned upon me all through these years, the number of friends I made an effort keeping connection with decreased and yet I was happier. The reason was that I had started caring for people who understood me and liked my company the same amount that I did and I can easily say that these are the people I can confide in at all times.

Now here we are not talking of the past anymore. It is the present. I am slowly and gradually trying to learn that the closeness and realness of any relationship (even if it is with a number of people you can count on your fingers) matters so much more than the number of people in your life.

I wouldn't say I don't still have people who I know don't share a true connection with me but can just have shallow conversations who I know sooner or later shall drift away. But in this process of evolving and knowing my truest companions, I am getting to know the variety of people who I can come across and honestly, I don't mind the experience - bitter or sweet I get to have with these people and thus knowing myself better everyday along the way.

So, my only advice here would be, that in case you have been feeling low because maybe a friend of yours left you just because they didn't like the true you, it doesn't matter and one day, you will surely find companions who stand by you, correct you, and love you for who you are no matter what.

Here's to true friendships and companionship!