The Test of Time

They say friends come and go and only very special friends stay throughout your life. I think this is, for the most part true. There are friends which come, go and then return sometimes years later. With modern technology and social networking websites this has become a more common occurrence. It’s interesting how some people stay very much the same as they were when you were last friends and how some are completely different. The only danger is when you think they’ve change and they haven’t or vice versa.

I think the best test of friendship over the years has to be whether you are still friends through both of you changing your opinions about things, differing in how you see things and various other relationships which can get in the way (especially romantic relationships).

Friendship is all about give and take. Knowing when to do one and not the other is what holds friendships together over the span of years. This doesn’t mean that friendships don’t have their ups and downs, their fights and disagreements. It’s only natural, especially with close friends. All it means is that sometimes you have to agree to disagree and give over to the fact that the other person isn’t going to change their mind.

When I think about the friends I have, I also come to realise that even though I have many friends whom I have know for many years, they are separated out into little groups with which I share a common interest. The hardest thing is realising that the friends in one group may not get one with the friends in another because we are not the exact same person with every set of friends we have.

So be kind to your friends, understand their point of view even if you don’t agree with it and don’t be too harsh on them when they do things that are idiotic in your eyes because you’ve probably something just as idiotic in their eyes. If you can do those things, then hopefully you’ll have a friend for life.