6 Things I’ve Learned about Friendship

Friendships are such a blessing aren’t they? When you find your tribe you feel like you can do anything because they’re by your side.  Or maybe friendships are difficult to navigate for you…either way, I’m sharing 6 things I’ve learned about friendship! Here we go:

Be vulnerable: How many of you have been here.  You’re out to coffee with a fairly new friend and your conversation heads into a direction where she opens up just a little about something she’s struggling with. All of a sudden you’re saying “Oh my gosh! Me too!”  See?? That one small vulnerable moment allowed you to both dig a little deeper, share a struggle, and ultimately find out you have way more in common than you think.  It’s easy to share about the easy stuff, the fun stuff, the light hearted stuff, but what if you could be the one to be a little vulnerable and share a little of the hard stuff? 

Give grace: A missed call, an un-returned text message, a missed comment on social media, DOES NOT HAVE TO BE TAKEN PERSONALLY.  Anyone else feel me?  We are busy.  All of us are busy.  I have also learned that not everyone is great at text messages.  Even more people aren’t great at talking on the phone.  So let’s just all agree right here and right now to let it go when one of our messages isn’t answered.  Give others grace instead of holding them to a standard they can’t possibly meet. 

“Best Friend” is a tier not a pedestal:  If you’re anything like me, you had one or two “best friends” in school.  You just had to let everyone know you were best friends with matching bracelets, socks, keychains, necklaces, you name it.  As I’ve gotten older and really honed in on “my tribe” I’ve learned that the term “best friend” more closely resembles a group of people.  In fact, I don’t even use the term anymore.  I have dear, close friends.  These are the women who know my struggles and love me anyway.  I don’t have to worry about filtering what I say for fear they’re judging me because I know they aren’t.  I don’t go home worrying about our conversation, rather I go home feeling so full and so grateful for the gift of real friendship.

Boundaries are okay: Sometimes friendships can get messy and hard.  This makes sense!  Two imperfect people in a relationship together can not be perfect.  It’s just not possible.  I’ve learned that taking a break is okay in these difficult seasons, and it may be the best thing for both of you!  There should be no expectations on this and there doesn’t need to be long drawn out discussion.  Just finding time to connect with the other people in your life and coming back to a friend after a period of time is completely okay!

Relationships with women are LIFE GIVING:  When you leave a date with a good friend and you leave feeling like you could burst because you are filled with so much joy.  God was so kind to give us friendships.  We were meant to do life together in community and it makes so much sense because of the way it makes us feel. 

Find your tribe and love them hard: I’ve seen this quote plastered all over pinterest and instagram but you know what? It’s totally true.  Figure out who your tribe is.  Then, love them.  Do your best to answer their texts, check in on them, be intentional about meeting up with them.  Tell them how you appreciate them and how important they are to you.  We often assume those around us know how we feel but telling a friend thank you for the role they play in your life is gold!  Look, we are all busy.  A quick “Hey friend, just thinking about you.” text takes 5 seconds but to the person on the other end of the text? It means more than you know. 

There you have it! Do you have any to add? Share them below, I’d love to hear them! SHARESHARE ON FACEBOOK