Someone once said, "I get by, with a little help from my friends". Today I realized the truth behind that statement. I'm famous for my ability to completely disappear of the radar for extremely long periods of time. People who've known me long enough, know it's nothing personal it's just the way I function. Commitment phobia some call it, others a new degree of laziness(to them I say, "Hello!Have you not seen my display picture). But those observations aside I realize that most of the time I just don't see the point. I have also realized that being away from someone helps put your relationship with that person in perspective. The other day I wasn't feeling well. I had no choice but to call a friend miles away from me, who was busy in her class and ask her to contact her father who is a doctor. She did this and gave me the information in 15 minutes. It wouldn't be a gross exaggeration to say she is the reason I could get up the next morning. This friend was also my roommate for 3 years. More importantly we haven't spoken for the past 6 months. Not because of any disagreement but because our hectic schedules(in her case) and aforementioned laziness(in my case) have not permitted us. But all it took was a single message for her to miss an important class and tend to a friend miles away. Another friend of mine has been cramming for the past month. This party animal has given up his wild ways in hopes of securing a future in an Ivy League University. I was passing through his city and made plans to meet up. He did the 3 hour commute from his house to the airport and waited there for me another 3 hours. All this, to spend half an hour with me. He had missed out on a whole day of studying and this was a big deal for him. As I asked him why he did it he replied, "It was worth it, I met you!" That is the power of friendship. Just knowing that someone always has my back gives me a reason to walk with my head held up high and a smile on my face.
As I pondered on this phenomenon and how Id gotten this lucky I realized this is how my friends always are. They have always gone out of their way for me and have put up with my disappearing act patiently(or not) time and again. But what really struck me was the realization that I would do the exact same things for them in a heartbeat. I guess that's what real friendship is after all. It's not the huge birthday bash or the expensive gifts it's the shoulder to cry on when your dream comes crashing down. It's the person who forces you to give yourself a chance when you really don't want to. It's the sharing of fee stuff, the late night phone calls because you r bored, the lame jokes, the private jokes, the constant leg pulling, the experience of doing something stupid together that you know you will regret later on, the feeling of wanting to shoot someone for their stupidity and the knowledge that you probably will very soon, the fighting over something refusing to speak to each other ever again and waking up the next morning to do the same thing all over again.
Life throws various challenges your way. They say it's hard for someone to make it in this big bad world. They say you have to be ruthless, ready to kill if the occasion calls for it. But I have learnt that as long as you have friends like mine life just falls into place on it's own. My friends may not seem like much to a casual observer but it takes a special kind of luck to find people ready to put their lives on hold if it means they make your journey a little easier even if it's just for a little while.
i love you!
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