We often take for granted the importance of our friends — the constants in our lives — and how we, in one way or another, learn from them, from valuable life lessons to something as simple as not rubbing our eyes with our hands.”
Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was pure luck. But, something or someone pulled us to become best friends- and I am forever in your debt.
Everyone we meet changes our lives. The people who we welcome into our worlds may bring meaning and fulfillment. Power and knowledge. Or they may bring pain and heartbreak. Control and agony.
How do we know? When will we know? Do we take them by the hand and say, “I will show you all the things I hide from everyone else.” Or do we take them by the hand and demand to know their motives?
As I approach my twentieth year of life, I have learned that the unknown factor makes us stronger.
I like to think of people as puzzle pieces. And I like to think of myself as a puzzle. As I grow and develop not only as a human, but a living and breathing character made of flesh and bones, composed of chapters and stories, my puzzle pieces occasionally break and disappear.
Friends, family, strangers- they restore and create new pieces, better pieces.
I believe my best friend is a puzzle piece that I never knew was missing.
She is a kind and unfailingly generous soul; she courageously lends me pieces of her own puzzle when I lack confidence, motivation or strength. To find a best friend who seeks your happiness before her own, a best friend who makes you feel like you are worth it and doing something good is a blessing. To find someone who teaches you something new everyday, someone who consciously inspires you to want to become a better person, sparks a deeper meaning within your life.
Though my best friend and I are different, we are equally similar. Our varying personalities represent balance. She shows me effortless love and compassion- something I am eternally grateful for. She shows me acceptance, something I that I have always wanted, but never knew how much I needed. Her heart is big and constructed of pure gold. She cares. In dark days, she is the light. She is a natural and detoxifying remedy for all pain.
Her soothing voice and magical perspective is enlightening. Her brain is complex and sophisticated. She is wise- wise beyond her years. Her complexion is a beaming ray of positivity.
And I aspire to be like her everyday.
To find someone who changes your life for the greater good is rare.
But, to find a best friend who is not only your role model, but guidepost is an intangible and invaluable gift.
Build your puzzle with caution and care. This process is painstaking and tedious. But, once you have found your people, once you have found your person, you will realize that it was worth the wait.