Life Is...

Life. So many ways to describe it. Life is messy. Life is complicated. Life can kick you when you’re already down and spit in your face, telling you to stay down, don’t get up, that you’re worthless, pathetic, a disgrace. But life can also be rewarding. Life can be filled with such wonderful, amazing things. Life can show you who you can trust, and who will be there for you, no matter what. We call these types of people “friends.” 

Friends will be there for you, care for you, stay by your side through thick and thin. But there are friends who do more than that, friends who you trust more than others, friends who will be there at 3am with your favorite take-out after a messy breakup, friends who will stay there with you till you fall asleep after a bad week. “Best friends,” we call them. 

Best friends are always there for you, even if you don’t want them there. They won’t care if you tell them to go away, that you want to be alone. They will be there to support you through the good and bad. Life sends them your way, and shows you whom to trust during the hard times. Life can also take them away just as easily. Life can change them, twist them into people you don’t recognize. Sometimes life is too much for some people. But the ones who make it through the hardships, through all the grief and despair, and are still the same person – keep them close. Don’t let them go. They won’t buckle when faced with hardships. They won’t waver in the face of danger or death. They won’t break down because they can’t! They stay there, by YOUR side, keeping you together. 

They stay with you because they take pleasure in helping others, in keeping people together. Together in the way they wish they were. They may look fine, say “I’m good!,” always changing the subject to check in on you, make sure you’re okay, keep you together, and in some ways, they’re repairing themselves. For most, when they break, nothing can put them back together, but for others – the ones that put on a smile, the ones that cry themselves to sleep at night and show up like nothing happened, the ones that hide their true feelings because they don’t want to be a burden – for them, helping keep others together is what helps keep them there, what helps keep them whole. 

So, what is life? Life is messy. Life is complicated. Life is worse for some than others, always unfair or vindictive. The one true thing life can be, though, is merciful. Merciful when they send that one person your way. That one person who’s broken inside and keeps those together who are broken on the outside. That one person who always puts others before themselves because they feel like they need to, that they need to keep them together, that if they didn’t, they failed. So when that one person comes your way, never let them go. Never.