From childhood, it is a naturally occurring system of establishing who you want to play with on the playground or who you will invite to all your birthday parties. This continues throughout life, but you go from not knowing who to invite to birthday parties to just wanting a small gathering of your closest best friends. Some (including me), have childhood friends that are still very much some of their best friends even in adulthood. Some have dropped all childhood friends and moved onto friends that they might have met in college or at work. Whatever the case may be, at some point you find your “people.”
So, how do you know when you’ve found your “people?”
Well, it might be easy for some people to find their close friends and a bit harder for others. Your “people” are the ones that stick by your side no matter what. You don’t get into the program you wanted, your people are there to cheer you up and encourage you not to lose hope. You lose a close relative; your people are there comforting you with your favorite sweet treats.
These are the people that you can spend hours with and not get bored. You don’t have to talk to every day to know that they are still your friends. The people that when you come back from college for a weekend tend to pick up right where you left off. The ones that are always down for a night in with the girls. The ones that know your life better than you. The ones that when you are all together can make each other laugh until you cry. They are the random phones calls when you need to vent. You’ll send each other random texts about things that reminded you of them or random “checking in” texts, or texts that show appreciation for each other.
The ones that you want in your memories of your life.
You’ll know when you have found your people when you realize how happy, lucky and fortunate you are. You’ll know because you won’t ever feel alone, sad, or unhappy because they’ll be the first text, call, or a Snapchat that you get when they sense you aren’t doing well. These people are your support system. You never have to worry about a secret you told them getting out because they value your friendship enough that the secret will go to the grave with them. These are your people! They will stick by you, encourage you, laugh with you, cry with you and live life with you.
If you read this and don’t know if you have found your “people,” don’t worry. I know I have found my people and it hasn’t always been easy but I know that the ones that truly want to be my people and vice versa will always be there for each other.