This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vanderbilt chapter.
Hello readers, today’s blog will be discussing an issue that I think needs to be addressed. This issue can be summed up in one word: friends. Stop. Now think about the word. Do you really understand the meaning? Define the word. Now say it slowly, Frrieennd… The most important question: Do you have any? This word is so closely correlated to the word “associate” that we use it too loosely. A friend is not some who you do things in the public with, someone who you post pictures on facebook with or someone whose name you’ve known since preschool days… No, a friend is a sacred title that should only be given to someone worthy enough to hold that title. I myself can count the number of friends I have on one hand with less than five fingers. (Hopefully my audience is smart enough to understand what I mean.) EVERYBODY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!!! <-- read it, learn it, live knowing it. I hate to see people put themselves in positions where if only they had not told their "friend" secrets they could have avoided an embarrassing moment, a humiliating reputation or worse, a heartache. Some people are only mean't to be associates.
Hailing from the South, particularly Dyersburg, Tennessee, could be the reason why I believe people do not understand my definition of a friend. Perhaps we do things differently. Because I am reminded daily in the city of Nashville, Tennessee that my definition of a friend is not everyone else’s definition. Or it seems that way because of the kinds of environment people tend to keep. To me, a friend should be someone you can tell ALL of your secrets to without hesitation, without judgement and without a care in the world (meaning you won’t hear someone else whispering it the next day). A friend is someone you can cry to (although we all know big girls don’t cry, but the option is still necessary), someone who you can call for en emergency and know that they will arrive on site before you can hang up the phone, and someone who can relate to you. Now I know I have lost some readers by now because they can not handle the fact that they know their “friends” do not meet this description. Well that’s fine, that’ll give them something to think about.
I know it’s tough to find people who meet these requirements, but it would save you a lot of time, worry and heartache if you took the time to find these kind of friends. Particularly to my female readers, we have to look even closer. Because we need someone who knows your ex-boyfriends are off limits, someone who doesn’t blow with the wind (meaning she likes you one day, then talks about you to other people the next), and lastly, someone you can leave alone in any room with your boyfriend and not think twice about it.
It is a shame that the search for friends is so hard but once you find these kind of friends life seems to be a little less of a struggle. But in order to find them, you must lose the bums you have now. Yes, you have to let the imitations go so that genuine is all that surrounds you. Want to know how? Wash your hair. Yup, I said it. WASH YOUR HAIR! You know that relieving feeling you get after washing your hair? Well after you get rid of these friends you will experience that same feeling. Here’s how it works…
This is how stressed life is with untrustworthy people surrounding you..
1. LATHER: Figure out everyone who does not demonstrate these friend requirements. It is time to wash them out of your hair.
2. RINSE: When both of you have ALL of your belongings back from the other (i.e. clothes, shoes, borrowed money). Dismiss them.
3. REPEAT: Everyone has a group they hang out with. So this process will take a while. People seem to accumulate bad company. So repeat steps one and two until all of their negativity has been dismissed. This process may require the help of outside sources, so use those sources whatever they may be. Do not feel like you have to do this by yourself.
The result will be a sight to see. You will have rid your environment of people that were only polluting it anyway. Now go strut your stuff! Companionship is not a necessity; sometimes walking alone is the best way to be. Until you find new peas for your pod of course.
See ya next time readers, BE easy :)
