High school has come to be, overall, the most stressful time in my life, as well as in the lives of all of my classmates. Our friends, however, have been there through everything. Every one of us must go through great triumphs and failures to become who we are meant to be, and “amigos” are the ones who stand next to us through all of the crushes, pressure, breakups, and tough decisions. All of us have problems in our lives, but depending on how our friends reach out to us when we need a boost of confidence, we all get through those issues.
The most beautiful human trait I have ever witnessed is compassion. People who are truly compassionate seem to be those who have the best years in high school. I have known many of my friends to be compassionate at one time or another, but it is people I barely even know whose compassion touches me.
I sat in a small circle of people in a room at Gordon College. We were having “trust circle”, a ritual I had come to enjoy. Here an open-ended question was posed and each person in the group had to answer it. “If you could go anywhere, where would you go and why?” As I was listening to the others answers, a tear trickled down my face. I took a deep breath and explained how I would go back in time to the day that my dad died to tell him that my love for him is unconditional. If anyone knows me, they’d guess that my next move was to rush out the door and compose myself. And so I went. After a few minutes, I came back and it hit me. There was so much support from the people in that circle. I was immediately comforted by two girls who threw their arms around me.
Another part of being a friend is making people laugh. When someone is in a bad mood it should be the number one goal of a friend to keep him or her smiling.
Case in point: I was having one of those “terrible, horrible, no good very bad days”. Save from being hit by a train or being attacked by a pack of pit bulls, I was pretty sure my day couldn’t get any worse. So there I was, sulking in a dingy corner in all of my misery, and perfectly content I might add, until he came. No not the Almighty Being himself, but Matt. Matt can spot an unhappy camper from a mile away, and he did. He walked around the band room with trombone in hand and stopped right in front of me. He proceeded to play, sliding the trombone slide so that the end just slightly tapped my nose. He had me. I cracked a smile and felt a little relief wash over me.
Though laughter and compassion are top priorities on my favorite qualities list, the little things are the most important part of life-those moments that catch you off guard and remind you of what is really significant. When it comes down to it, life is made up of the millions of the “little things”.
Once, my friend Steve came by to visit me while I was having a ho-hum day at work. The thing I love about Steve is that he seems like the oddest person when he’s in a big group of people, but he is truly profound when you need him to be. So there we were, talking at the Dairy Barn about nothing in particular when I started to talk about the future. I told him about the plans I have for college and so forth and so on. Then I told him about my trip up to Maine with my mother. Maine is that spiritual place where I can go and really clear my head and reflect upon everything. It’s also where I feel most close to God and to my father. I told Steve that just before I left the cottage, I had gone down to the water and talked to my dad for a little while. When it was time to go, I picked a flower off of a nearby bush and tossed it in for him. Steve assured me that my dad saw the wildflower and understood that it was his. Steve didn’t need to tell me, but the fact that he believed it, too, meant a lot.
Honestly, my friends act as my lifeline. They show compassion when life gets tough. They are around to make me laugh, even when I feel like crying. And most of all, they are there doing all the little things that make life worth while. No matter how long I’ve known them or how well I know them, all of my friends play a very important role in keeping me sane through my high school years.
