friends come and go,
31. and sometimes the ones that go are my favourite type.
"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity."
- Khalil Gibran
Recently, I've been pondering and discussing the friendships we have in our lives. Personally, I've always categorised my friends, and sometimes they move between these categories depending on my living situation and location. For instance, a regular friend I'd see weekly might become a long-distance friend. It's natural that we may not stay as updated on each other's lives when distance separates us, and that's perfectly fine. People change; as humans, we adapt and grow based on our environment.
The famous quote by Jim Rohn, "You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with," always comes to mind when I think about friendships. If I notice myself acting in a certain way, I reflect on the people I've been spending the most time with. While sticking to your core values is crucial, if the people around you don't respect or align with those values, are they really the ones you should be investing the most time with?
Similar to navigating a successful romantic relationship, communication is essential in friendships, in my opinion and based on stories I've heard from others. If your partner does something that bothers you, you speak up and address it. The same should apply to friendships, yet we often bypass this. I've had many difficult conversations with friends in the past, and these have only made us stronger.
One of my favourite topics regarding friendships, and one I value greatly, is an idea I wrote about a few years ago called the 'single serve friendship.' Having lived a transient lifestyle in last few years, I've met so many amazing and interesting people from all corners of the world. Some have become lifelong best friends, while others have entered my life briefly, leaving me with incredible memories—a spontaneous overseas trip or an unplanned mountain hike with someone I met just a day earlier. These experiences, like waking up at 3am to catch a sunrise in a foreign country or mistakenly booking a flight for the wrong dates and having to take a 17-hour train ride in Thailand with no air conditioning and brick like seats (lesson learned: always double-check flight dates on Skyscanner), have paid dividends in my life with unforgettable memories, time and time again.
Don't get me wrong; I value building a community, but if I were to give advice to others, it would be to embrace making more 'single serve' friends. I look forward to more single serve I come across in this beautiful world.
Here's to those single serve friends whose names are shared around the dinner table with your best mates from the other side of the globe.
Happy Sunday.
Jono <3
