My Friends Of Value

It is important to choose the right friends, good friends can take you wherever you want to go in life, and the wrong friends can be a disastrous decision. A quote from The Pact sums this up nicely, “Friendship can lift you up, strengthen and empower you, or break you down, weaken and defeat you.” (32) This is why it is so important to surround yourself with positive people, and

As the year progressed, I found people who shared common interests as me and people who did not. Regardless, I made myself associate with them and it worked for my benefit. You may never know when you need a favor or just someone to talk to for that matter. Saying hello to a person can change so much which may sound really cheesy but its true! If I had never had the courage to join in on a strangers’ conversation then they would never have become my best friends. I had witnessed the Butterfly Effect. As I grew more comfortable with talking to others, my personality bloomed into something that I am proud of. I was excited to do things that others were not. If there was a spirit day, I would go all out. If it was someone’s birthday, I would try my hardest to get them a gift they would enjoy. If I saw someone going through internal turmoil, I would lend them my ears so that they could release their stress. Once, I was browsing Instagram through boredom and a girl had posted a picture of herself with the caption that said “I have nothing to live for.” I commented on the picture saying that she was gorgeous and she replied with “so what.” That reply hit me

People may go through hard times but at the end if you are true friends it doesn’t really matter. Just as Roberta and Twyla at the end of the story somewhat seemed like they had made up and came back the their childhood roots. Lately in my life I have came back to the ones I had strayed from. Early last year I had, had a group of friends I would hang with every weekend. But over the summer a new group had arisen and I had thrown them out. Yet that has came back to bite me due to complications between my usual friends. As I have learned it would have been much smarter to stay on good terms with everyone.

Since I was a child, I loved making friends. Whenever I saw someone new, I would run up to them and immediately become best friends with them. As I grew up, I recall some occasions when I felt left out. I remember being so sad that they wouldn't include me. From that day on, I made a commitment to make everyone feel involved because that feeling of being left out was one of the worst feelings a young boy/girl could ever have.

When I look back to why many of my friends died. I remember how they said they couldn’t handle life anymore. These wonderful, amazing, and kind people went out expecting to find more exceptional people yet, they were sadly disappointed. They went out and found a

My dad left for work like any other morning, but he never came back that night. I don’t remember my birthday that year. I spent a lot of time in various hospitals, thinking my situation couldn’t get any worse and that no one could possible understand what I was going through. That is, until I finally looked around and saw people in positions exactly like mine or even worse. I let myself get so intertwined with my own problems, I didn’t take notice to my surroundings. It was during these times spent at the hospital that I really developed a compassion for others. Up until that point I was considerably self-absorbed, but during this period I was enlightened and was compelled with the need to care for others. This trying time for my family sparked a fire in me to not only notice the needs of others but fulfill

For example, Dorothy Rowe explains if someone loses trust in a loved one, they often turn to others for guidance which greatly impact their decisions and sometimes lives: ¨Other people can let us down, insult or humiliate us, leading us to feel diminished and in danger. Yet we need other people to tell us when we have got our guesses right, and, when we get things wrong, to help us make more accurate assessments¨ (142). When we surround envelop ourselves with those who are similar it can have an impact on the way we see ourselves. Rowe explains that, ¨If we lose a friend, we have to change how we see ourselves and our life. . . . We need to find friends whose individual world is somewhat similar to our own so that we are able to communicate with one another. . . . Such people give us the kind of validation that builds a lasting self-confidence despite the difficulties we encounter¨ (143). With this, Dorothy Rowe shows how the people who are around someone can affect our thoughts and

“Friends are a dime a dozen”, said someone whom I’m not aware of, but whoever it was must’ve had their fair-share of poor decisions when it came to selecting friends. However, they are right. Friends do come and go, some you feel relieved that they’d left and some you may want them to stay, but that’s just one reason why it’s become so important to choose your friends carefully.

In this moment of highest vulnerability, and apathy, I began to ignore even the people closest to me. But they did not give up. They forced me to open up to them. Bit by bit, they brought me back to life. It started with small changes like eating daily. And then regularly. With taking some classes at local Community College to get back in the habit of studying. Somehow, they believed that if only I would structure my life in a correct form, I would get better. I did not think it would be the case. After all, apathy does not fear routine. And, what exactly was the goal of all this? Life was a dull, aching, annoying pain.

Answers may provide solutions, but they don’t heal. There is never a simple solution to depression, but the presence of our loved ones reminds us that light still exists. Anxiety may demand answers, but its nature restricts us from believing them even when they come. Yet when a friend simply hears our concerns and supports us, we can find rest. And addiction is far too complicated to be fixed with a simple word, but finding someone who will hear our story and understand our pain can motivate us to

You can have many friend throughout your life, but true friends do not come that oftentimes. But once you find them, they will always be there for

Growing up, I learned many things from my parents, but I also learned values from my many high school friends. Every kid wants to be accepted, but the school years can be tough. In my high school there were many labels for people and if someone did not fit those labels they had a hard time feeling like they belonged. My friends were not the typical athletes, musicians, or students. We were a mix of kids who saw things differently and looked different. We had long hair, wore edgy clothes and listened to music that was not a favorite among our peers. We often felt that teachers and other students judged us, so we worked hard at accepting others and treating others with respect. If anyone wanted to be a part of our social circle, we happily accepted them no matter what color their skin was, how they dressed, or wore their hair. I learned that everyone has something to offer if you give them the chance and open your mind to them without judgement. In high school, I reached out to a person that I would not

“Choose your friends wisely they will make or break you.” (azquotes) People believe that friends are the people that you grow up with, or who you get close to in school and sports. They are also the people that you hang out with, have some of the best times of your life when you are around them, and they are the ones that you tell anything to when you need support that relatives just cannot give you in certain situations. Along with everything else that they do, they are also responsible for helping shape who you choose to be. I originally believed that friendship could have been these things as well as the belief that friends would never betray you. I trusted in my own beliefs because I saw how my parents kept in contact with all their closest friends they had when growing up. But my views on friendship, future and past, changed when I witnessed two of my friends argue, fight, and hurt one another.

Since my childhood, my parents, especially my mom, stressed the importance of having at least one true friend that can always be there for me. The other day - as I pack my bag for school - my mom came in and said, “Jocelyn, as always, remember to be nice and friendly to your friends”. Back then, I fluffed her off with a simple nod. I did not understand what it meant for me to be nice and friendly to “friends”.

One of my favorite phrases, of the song Lean On Me by Bill Withers, is a “Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain we all have sorrow But if we are wise, we know that there’s always tomorrow.” In other words, no matter how arduous and challenging life can be, another better opportunity will be given the next day. In life, people should identify the difference between the real friend or fake friends. In addition, the qualities of a virtuous friend are trustworthy, have a good attitude, and last being thoughtful.