According to social media, it’s a day to celebrate your pals.
The dictionary definition of a friend is: ‘a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard’. But I prefer that old saying ‘friends are the family you choose for yourself’. That’s definitely how I view my mates – as just one big extension of my family and I feel very blessed with the gang I’ve got.
“No friendship is an accident”, said O.Henry. And that’s right, I believe that people come into our lives (and go) at different times for a specific reasons, although the death/end of a friendship can be a hard thing to go through.
And in this world of instant gratification, friendship can still be – and should be – a slow burner. You can’t rush making friends and that shared, slow history of growing closer is something to cherish. In fact, I think that clicking with someone new and starting a friendship can be just as sweet as falling in love.
When you’re little friendship is all about playing together and sharing fun secrets, and actually when you’re older it’s pretty much the same! Friends are there to confide in, reminisce with, laugh with, share joy and tears, or just to be with. They understand your quirks and accept them and make you feel ok to be you, warts and all.
It’s impossible to sum up what friends mean in one pithy sentence, or even in the whole of a blog post. So, I’m handing the job over to some famous people and their words of wisdom:
“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”- William Shakespeare
“I get by with a little help from my friends.” – The Beatles
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” – Woodrow T. Wilson
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” – Elbert Hubbard
“In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.” – John Churton Collins
“Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
