Friendship is a beautiful thing. It’s a wonderful feeling to know you have true friends because sometimes, friends will do for you what family members will never even contemplate.
True friendship is too valuable to be in name only. You should never maintain a friendship when you know it’s not a true friendship. How do you know if it’s a true friendship? Well, first, your friendship with anyone must be based on shared values for it to last. If all you do is gossip about other people, your friendship will eventually crumble under the weight of gossip. Two thieves cannot be friends for too long because one will steal from the other at some point. Two liars cannot be friends for too long. Two opportunists cannot remain true friends for too long! You get my drift.
True friendship means just that, true friendship. If your friend is flying high while you struggle to even stand up, something is amiss with that friendship. Meaning, a true friend will give you a hand so you too can fly high. Some will maintain a friendship so long as they don’t see you as a competition. True friends elevate one another and do not seek to put each other down.
A true friend will not just give some help so they can say they helped. True friends go over and beyond for one another. A true friend will not pay lip service to your struggles. They will be right beside you. A true friend will have your back. They see you in them and see themselves in you.
A true friend will not go around discussing you with others. They don’t try to remind anyone of what they’ve done for you in order for them to feel adequate. They will not minimize your relationship because they happen to be around someone or some people who do not like you. A true friend accepts that you’re not perfect but will hold you accountable for your actions.
A fractured friendship is hard to heal. Sometimes, it never heals. Other times, even when it heals, the scars that remain serve as a reminder that the “new” friendship is never the same as the old. And these scars are more pronounced if they are a result of a fracture caused by betrayal, lies, or broken trust.
May your friendships endure. May your friendships be based on shared values. May you be able to look every friend in the eye and never have to bow in shame because you betrayed a friend, lied to or about them, or broke their trust. May your friendships be true.
Alagie Saidy Barrow
