“a friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

"Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing.  There is a time for silence.  A time to let go and allow people hurl themselves into their own destiny.  And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over."

For a while, for me, I always took it so personally if a friend didn't take my advice for a situation.  I would get so frustrated and become way more involved than I needed to. That was a while ago, and luckily I've learned that it's simply my job to be there and keep giving that advice even though ultimately it's up to them to realize what they need to do.  It's so important to know this because it's way too easy to get annoyed and fed up with people who continue to make mistakes. You can't take it personally because it has nothing to do with you. For me, now that I've realized that important lesson, I try to always be there for all my friends, while staying at a distance where I can't get sucked in to it. This quote captures what it takes to be a friend and shows that, even though it's stressful and difficult at times, it's worth it and those friends need you to always be there for them, no matter what. I try to live that out by always staying close with my friends. Even if I have a falling out with someone, I try to eventually, with time, get it back where we are semi-close again because I don't want to go through life losing friendships that mean something to me. Time is the healer of friendships and bad situations, and even though sometimes it may seem like it will never get better, it does. Nothing lasts forever- time will fix it and make it okay again.