Appreciating the Relationships in your life

Originally published March 19, 2014

I would like to precede my blog post by saying this: I am not depressed or battling mental illness and I am not lonely. I know I have a good group of friends around me who appreciate the relationships we have and a family that truly loves me. However, all these thoughts are just me trying to understand the impact of the friendships in my life.

So a few weeks ago, someone told me something that has stuck with me, ‘Ever since I got to university, you are one of the few people that has truly made a positive impact on my life and I want to thank you for that (*Cries inside*).’ Mind you, I was a little inebriated at the time, but that was the jist of it.

Now this really affected me because my entire life, no one had ever told me how much I impacted their life. Obviously your family is, or should always be, there for you and they appreciate everything you’ve done, but for a friend, especially considering I had met them only a year and a half ago, to say that to me; it really meant a lot.

Sometimes I just sit there and wonder what I’ve done for people and how I’ve impacted their life. I mean if I just disappeared (again, not depressed or suicidal, want to make that VERY VERY CLEAR), how many people would actually notice. I know my family would, but how many of your friends or people in your life would really care. And also, what if I had never met any of my friends? Would there lives be really that different?

One of the things I’ve really noticed growing up is that people are very different but there are certain qualities amongst groups of people that are very similar. For example, people are selfish. Some much more than others, but everyone has a certain part of them that’s always looking out for themselves and in this respect, that’s why I think some people take relationships/friendships for granted.

You will always meet people who will put you down and not believe in you, but I just want to say this: you are loved, you are valued and you are appreciated. There are many people in my life, and definitely some in yours who will never say it, but you know that you are a crucial part of their life and without you, they’d be nothing. I think people have a tough time telling others how they feel about them, because of fear of backlash or them not feeling the same or whatever, and you may think that because of this, your friends don’t care about you. But, I’m telling you, they do.

That’s why I’m a strong believer in being honest and getting your feelings out. Go out today and text that person or message them on Facebook or meet them for coffee and just say thanks; thanks for being a great friend, because that can go a long way in making someone’s day. Don’t take relationships/friendships for granted in your life because all the people you’ve met have made you the person you are today, and without them, especially the close friends in your life who have been there every step of the way, you wouldn’t be where you are.

So just go love some people, because everyone needs a little love and appreciation in their life