4 Important Things That I’ve Learned From My Friends

"Real friends contribute a lot more than just fun in your life."

There are a couple of things that I’m extremely thankful for in my life. I’m thankful for my family and the wonderful friends that I have. My friends have had a strong impression on me and my character. Like any good group of friends, we’ve taught each other many things and in turn have learned many important things as well.

Your problems aren’t as serious as you make them out to be.

It’s an awful habit that we make mountains out of mole hills, but sometimes we just can’t help it. We just get so hurt and affected by something that it seems like the world is about to end. Truth is, it’s nowhere near as serious as we blow it up to be.

Growing up I used to bitch and moan about the simplest of things but every time, my buddies would tell me to shut the fuck up and grow some chest hair. The shutting up part was easy. I remember how I’d come complaining to my friends about something that I thought was HOLY SHIT OMG serious and my friends wouldn’t really pay much attention to it, and often times criticized me for being a bitch.

I hated how they would just ignore my problems and thought that they just didn’t give a shit. However, over time I began to realize why they did and how overreacting was so unnecessary. Some days, things were really bad in my life and my friends responded appropriately. Most often, however, they made me realize that flipping out at every small obstacle in life is a pointless waste of energy.

You’re not the only person going through the same thing.

“Nobody understands me! They don’t know what the hell I’m going through!”

How many times have you felt that way? It sounds childish (and it is) and immature (this as well) but sometimes things spiral out of control that we truly feel that we’re unique in our misery. This is common amongst adolescents but a surprisingly amount of adults exhibit these emotions. We are human after all and we lose control here and there.

Its common knowledge amongst anybody that knows me personally that I’m at odds with my father. We’ve never had a good relationship and I doubt well ever reach rapport. I always thought nobody understood the kind of home I was growing up in and that made me feel detached from everybody. I felt that I couldn’t open up to people because they just wouldn’t get it.

I was wrong.

I’m surprised at the amount of people that are at odds with their dads, down to scenarios just like mine. I kind of felt silly afterward.

Talking frequency isn’t indicative of how close you are with someone.

Most people think that in order to maintain a strong friendship, you need to talk often and as frequently as possible. Real life proves that this isn’t the case at all. One of my close buddies is away serving the Air Force and we talk about once every 2-3 months. Whenever we do get a chance to catch up, it never feels like we even have to catch up.

There aren’t any awkward moments when we’re trying to figure out something to talk about. We pick up like we left off, as if we were just talking the other day. Sure we fill in each other with things here and there but for the most part, it’s like he never left.

Good friendships are forged from how much you allow someone else in and vice versa. Talking to somebody all the damned time makes you annoyed if anything. I’ve made extremely close friends within a relatively short period of time, and inversely, I’ve known people for over 5-6 years that I talk to on a decent basis that I don’t really feel attached to at all.

It’s about the content, not the volume.

You're not as lonely as you think.

How many times have you felt that you had nobody to talk to? Or even the fact that no matter how many people you talked to that nobody ever cared about you? Growing up I always felt like that. I would talk to many faces and at the end of the day, I would still feel alone for no real reason. However, I failed to acknowledge back then that whenever I needed to talk to somebody, there would always be someone that picked up on the other side.

You are not alone. The only way you’ll ever be truly alone is if you isolate yourself in some mountain or just avoid talking to every single human being in this planet. If you choose the latter, you need to get some help–it’s a serious problem.We all feel lonely time to time but thinking that way is an insult to those that consider themselves a good friend to you.

They will bitch at you for waking them up at 3 in the morning to talk, but nevertheless they will be there for you and make you feel better. After all, you would do the same in return.