This post is a little unlike my usual 'health and fitness' related posts, but sometimes I feel that our relationships play a huge role in our overall health. While most people understand that romantic relationships can take their toll on you physically and emotionally, often people don't realise the impact that friendships can have on your health.
In this day and age, friendship has become, in some cases, a fragile and disposable thing. Saying 'oh I have a friend who...' is so widely used, but generally we're just talking about one of the hundreds of Facebook friends we have, who, apart from social media updates, we don't actually know that well. When popularity has become measured by how many followers you have on Instagram, or how many Facebook likes you get on a post, it's no wonder the word 'friendship' has seemed to lose all meaning.
According to the dictionary, the word FRIEND means
'a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations'
It's funny really.
Now, I'm not trying to say that I have LOADS of friends, or that I don't have any. Being quite an independent person, I am more than happy to have time on my own. However, I've been lucky in life to make some really great friends, and those people know who they are. I have friends that I don't speak to for months on end, and when we finally do it's like nothing has changed. I have friends who are completely different to me, but still understand me better than most people. I have friends I talk to basically every day. I have people who were close friends and we barely speak now, but the friendship we had was significant. And I have friends who have stood by me in some of the hardest times of my life. And that's bloody awesome.
But then there are always those 'friends', who, despite how nice they are to you in person, or how smiley and positive they are with you, you cannot trust a word that comes out of their mouths. These are the sorts of people who you've heard talk smack about their so-called best friends.
This is what I don't understand...
If you don't really like someone, then why pretend you're friends with them? Has social media and our need to be liked completely blinded us from the fact that, straight up, some people just aren't our friends? Is that such a bad thing? I don't think we were put here to like EVERYONE. I'm not saying that you have to be savage towards the people who aren't your friends, we don't have to have anything to do with them. But why do people still insist on being friendly and nice to someone if you know that they aren't nice about you? We don't walk around with bubbles over our heads indicating how many followers we have, so why do we care so much? Surely this social anxiety is having a detrimental effect on our health?
I guess it all comes back to our need to be accepted into society. And don't get me wrong, I've let this issue upset me many a time. But I think sometimes we have to remember our true friends. The ones who will stand by us no matter what, and stick up for us when others aren't. And maybe we should all practice being true friends to those we care about.
It's so fab when I hear people boasting about their friends. Gloating about how great they are. It's true that when you see the positives in people, they will send those feel good vibes straight back to you. And guess what? It makes you feel awesome!
Any way, enough of my rant. Just think about it...
V x
