I like to think that we have lots of soulmates. Sure, there's that Prince Charming who is out there waiting for you. But we often forget that our friends can be our soulmates too.
With the spring semester comes new classes, new perspectives, and this semester, a return of two of my best friends. Last semester, I spent a whole 4 months wishing I was in Italy and Spain with Lauren and Briana. If I could have been in 3 countries at once, I would have been. Nonetheless, their influence was still felt even though they weren't here. I would find myself thinking "Lauren would love this class discussion" or "Briana would think this joke was hilarious." We are those friends who could probably write a biography on one another and be more accurate than we would be if we wrote them ourselves. These aren't just any friends, these are my best college friends from day one of freshman year. Though last semester was difficult without the three of us together, it did nothing but bring us closer.
Something we tend to take for granted is the quality of the people who surround us every day, and once those people are no longer around, we can really see the importance of the relationship we have with them. Not that I never realized the specialness of the friendship us three share, but that importance became paramount once they were gone. Who could understand me like they do?! Lauren and Briana and I have an understanding of one-another that is unsurpassed by any one else. We can talk for hours, we can respectfully disagree, we can laugh at one anothers' idosyncracies, and most importantly we support one another in everything we do. Even when they were thousands of miles away, I was thankful that we could still stay in touch thanks to modern technology. I looked forward to a late-night facebook message saying "Only you would understand this..." and as the time got closer to their return to the states, I got more and more excited about the fun stories, new perspectives, and insights we would have to share once we were all together.
I've never had a hug so intense as the ones I had with Lauren and Briana when I got to see them finally. The love of friends is unlike any other. Though they were gone for 4 months, nothing changed.
In the routine of college life, I forgot how much of a role my two best friends played in my life until I spent 4 months without them. They are the ones who inspire me, who aren't afraid to tell me I'm wrong, who share my point of view and offer me new ways of thinking. When we get together we don't just gossip and vent, we discover things about life, we get excited talking about our class work or our volunteer work or our views about the world. We know eachother better than sometimes we know ourselves. We give eachother advice, we celebrate eachothers' achievements, and we laugh more times than I can count.
Our time apart has taught me how to really appreciate the people in your life. Don't take for granted the value of the people who are always around you. Hold them close, spend time with them, and keep in touch when you're apart. Think about those things you would miss if they weren't around. Try to imagine what life would be like had they not entered your life.
Now, when one of those two distracts me for an hour from my homework or from sleeping I don't sweat it because I know that these are the times I am going to remember about college. These are the people that matter. Now that we are back into the swing of things, and back into disturbing eachother's study time with an embarassing story or a long conversation about the nature of the public school systems (Briana) or the psychology of women (Lau)... I couldn't be more appreciative.
People are so caught up in finding Mr. Right these days that they tend to forget about (or atleast take for granted) the value of the people who surround them. Maybe we have lots of soul mates. Briana and Lauren are just two of mine. I have soul mates back at home, some more here at school, and of course I have my soul mate Kyle. There's gotta be a rhyme and reason to the people who come into our lives. Each one of them is meant to have an impact in some way, big or small. Briana and Lauren have been my moral compass, my system of support and encouragement, and sometimes the only ones who appreciate my jokes (or maybe that's just me...). So before the rest of my friends wonder where their blog post is, don't worry, I didn't forget about you. This post is about the realization of the importance of being thankful. Being away from those 2 girls has made me realize how lucky I am for the people in my life who have always been around (now please don't all run away to Spain and Italy to test our friendship). Whether I tell you or not, I am thankful. I recognize the impact each friend has had on my life, no matter how big, small, positive, negative, fleeting or momentous the impact, (to reference the popular quote) each person's footprints on my heart are felt in some way.
