A Woman's Work – Brooke Basically Blogging

Everyone wants a friend.  We all need someone who we can talk to and trust.  Some of us need more friends than others.  Some of us our content with a handful of true friends.  As a parent one fear that I have for my children is that they won’t have a friend at school. Or that they are eating alone at lunch.

For me I love my friends.  But during the day I do need a moment of time away from friends.  It is not because I am anti-social.  It is because I need time to reflect, pray and of course make a ton of phone calls. The beauty of friendship is that some friends you will have forever and some friends will only be in your life for a season.

I have friends in my life today from kindergarten, elementary, high school and college.  These friends have always been in my corner.  We have experienced many great times together. But how do you know that you have a true friend?  A ride or die friend as they say.  Here are my five ways to know that you have a good friend and don’t let them go.

1. When you can call your friend day or night and just vent and they don’t say a word.  Keep that person, you have a good friend.  There are times when we carry so many burdens with us that we need an outlet. We express our deepest thoughts with a friend, not needing them to give advice, but to just be there. It is a great feeling to know that you have the one friend that will just listen.

2. Keep a friend that gives you honest fashion advice.  We all have that one friend that will tell us what not to wear in public.  I love that. That is the same friend will help you slide into a spanx before you go out.  Now that is my kind of friend.  This same friend will also encourage you to get a fitbit and get some exercise.

3. We all need that one friend that is our cheerleader.  They motivate us from the sidelines and cheer us on to take on new journeys.  That friend has all of the right chants, songs, scriptures and even your own personal code of non-verbal communication.  This friend is a keeper.  They will always smile and find the silver lining.

4. Love your friend that will tell you when you are wrong and when you need to apologize.  Sometimes we forget, react in the moment and later regret our actions.  We need one friend that keeps it real and tells us point-blank.  This can be hard to hear.  But I would rather hear it from a close friend that I love than from a complete stranger.

5. We need a friend that we can trust, one that is loyal and cares about you.  A friend that wants to see you prosper. A friend that wants to see you happy even if their own life is a living hell at the time.  You want a friend that will stand up for you when someone speaks ill of you. We all have that one friend that we can tell our deepest and private thoughts to.  Just knowing that I have that person brings peace to my spirit.

I would hope that the friends that I have made over the years know how much I love them. My friends have seen me at the lowest, darkest and saddest times of my life.  They saw me when I was a hot mess.  But they also saw me at some of the happiest times of my life. There comes a time when friendships fade away and you may never know why.  But I will always remember my Girl Scout song Make New Friends.

~Brooke