"I ain't got no friends"

I like to proclaim that "I ain't got no friends". Hear me out; there is a reason to the craziness of this statement. Think for a moment. How many of your friends have your back? Really, think about it. How many actually would be there for you 100%, one hundred percent of the time? How many can you truly be honest with; not cover up a single thing? Who can you call at four in the morning and know they will be there for you? Who of your friends will accept you for who you are, yet still help you to become what you should?

Has your list become limited down to a number you can only count on one hand? If not, then you either one lucky person or you are great at lying to yourself.
For years I was lying to myself. In high school I had a large group of friends. I thought of them as close friends, friends who had my back.

But I did not fully understand true friendship until college. I have met a vast number of people since last August, and I can't call them all true friends. Not all of them have my back 100%, one hundred percent of the time, and that is okay. But what matters is that I have a couple. I have a couple who I can be fully honest with; a couple who I can call upon at four in the morning; a couple who accept me, yet push me.

In this thought of "I ain't got no friends", I started thinking to myself. Am I a true friend? Am I giving 100%, one hundred percent of the time? Honestly, I don't know. It is my new challenge; my goal to strive for.

I was sitting on my computer the other night reading through quotes (yes, I do this often). I stumbled upon these three:

"When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving us advice, solution, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing,  face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." -Henri Nouwen

"A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself." -Frances Ward Weller

"A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should." -Unknown

Find the gems among the rubble. Find the friends that will have your back. The friends that accept you for you, but help you to become a better you. The friends that stand beside you through each smile and tear. In it all don't forget to look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Am I a true friend?".