Over the years, like most people, what I want out of life has changed. As you grow up, you learn that a pony isn't really that great of an idea, opening a bar with your friends is just as much work as any other work (bonus points if you get this reference kids!), popularity is just a stupid concept we make up during middle school and that everything changes. People come and go. Friends aren't always going to be friends. TV shows, books and favorite bands end. Venice is drowning. Icebergs are melting. Your family members will, eventually, die. So will you. Your looks will change (doesn't matter if you're thank God or oh no about it). The concepts you made up in your head of being 16, 21, 30 and 40 are not real. Life does not go according to your well though out plans. Shit happens (double bonus points for this one!). You have no control over anyone or anything. You don't even control your own dog. Therefore, none of your goals actually matter more than for the present time. None of them matter after right now. Because things always change. These are all scary, sometimes sad, truths we will be constantly reminded of throughout our lives.

What I have figured is that the only real thing you can want and actually achieve in life is being a better person. That's the only one thing you have some control over. You choose what you put inside your body, inside your brain and what you show the world through your words and actions (though you can't really control what they think or say about it). So you can always aim to be a better person. And to me being a better person always involved being a really good friend.

Maybe it came from the fact that I didn't have many friends for quite a while and know how people can need one. Or maybe I've seen way too many bad friendships over the years. But the one thing I have consistently aimed at (though not always achieved) was being the best friend a person could wish for. Now, this isn't as easy as it seems. And it might have caused me some collateral damage, like never really giving up on people, but I think that might be a conversation for another time. 

Basically, what I want to clarify is that being the best friend possible does not even mean you are the person's best friend. Sometimes you're not even a close friend at all. Generally, it's all about being a nice person. How I see it is: a truly awesome friend is one that is there for you whenever you need them, to listen, to cheer you up, to laugh, to cry, to give advice and yes, most definitely to point out your wrongs too. A truly good friend doesn't need to love everything you love or go everywhere you go. A truly good friend only needs to be there when you need them, give you an honest welcoming smile and a good feeling about yourself. I should point out that, personally, although I said that a good friend does point out your wrongs, she/he talks to you about them in private and with honest care. A good friend doesn't rub your faults in your face or use your wrongs against you in any way. Beware of those who do. A good friend cheers you on in life, not pulls you back. 

Thinking back over the years, I am not sure I always did my best with being the best friend I could be for people around me. I have tried, but maybe not as much as I should have. Maybe I put other things before it that shouldn't have been. And, as many people around this time of the year are giving up on their New Years Resolutions, I want to pick up again some old Life Goals I had left a little behind. The most important one of the bunch is this first one. I want to try and be the best friend a person can be. I like helping, getting to know people and bonding with them in different ways. And the last thing I ever want is for someone to feel as alone as I once felt. Friendship makes life lighter. Not so many people in the world should be living without friends. Maybe if they didn't, the world wouldn't be such a creepy place..