FRIENDS AS A PART OF YOUR IDENTITY

Part of your identity besides your likes and dislikes, are your friends. What are friends? Well, the dictionary definition says “one attached to another by affection or esteem, one that is not hostile and a favored companion”. I would like to call a friend someone that’s willing to share experiences with you, share secrets, and let you be yourself around them.

During teenage years, friendships are very important. With them you learn about acceptance, empathy and compassion. In this time in your life friends become a second family. Typically, teenagers rather spend more time with their friends than with their parents, and it’s not because they love them less, it’s because during these years, you start developing a sense of independence. Relating to people your age, that are going through the same physical and psychological changes, makes you feel accepted. In them you can find someone to share new experiences and to grow with.

High school friends are the ones who last the most, especially because they are the ones that you chose. Most of the time, you will choose someone that thinks similarly to you. Why? Because that is going to be who you feel more identified with. Of course during the friendship there might be misunderstandings and fights, because even if we think alike we are not the same person. And even in our differences, what will define a good friendship is compromise, if both of you know that you don’t want to loose a friend due to a disagreement and you may meet halfway, the friendship will last. At the very end, friendships are a reflection of who we are, and can teach us about ourselves.