I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I have never realized the importance of good people in my life more than I have this summer. Not that I am denying my need for my friends in the past times of my lowest lows, and my highest highs, but this summer I have really taken the time to appreciate everything that the people who still stand beside me have done for me.

This will sound really cliche, but I very much mean it when I say that I really wouldn't be who I am without my friends. And I check myself several times a day to make sure that I am not taking these amazing people for granted. To rememeber that I am where I am because of them and that I appreciate their contribution to my life.
There are some friends that can contribute to your life, add to your self and then be long gone out of it after a while. The Best friends are the ones who continue to accept you, change you, love you and respect you on the same level that you respect them. With No judgement. They are the ones who sacrifice a night with their boyfriend because you really need your girl time. No arguements. They drop their life when they sense an enormous pool of tears coming on from you. No questions. They will be your ears when you need to senselessly ramble on about something that they can't quite understand but is fogging your mind... No judgement. They are proud of you the way you are proud of them.

Relationships... they require work. We know this when talking about the romantic ones, but I think we often forget that friendships need compromise, compassion and as much work, if not more, than the boyfriend/girlfriend ones. Your friends are the ones who will be there for you and not question it when you need to cry - they will listen. When you need to celebrate - they will make sure that you get fucked up (as well as make sure you don't make too much of a fool of yourself when you do). When you need someone to sleep in your bed with you no matter what the reason... No judgement. And I think that is enough to put work into for.

Yesterday I got my bike down off of the rafters and decided to fix it up so I could ride it. It needed a bunch of work. I spent my day figuring it out and carefully adjusting it so it could work the way I wanted it to... It first took a close look and a full understanding of the bike as a whole - how it worked, what connected to what and how I can go about adjusting it - and when I started working on it, and wanted to throw it across the street into the garbage because it was being a pain in the ass and getting me dirty and it felt like I was wasting my time, I found a whole bunch of patience and I eventually got it fixed properly... And now I can enjoy it.
I could have bought a new bike that was fresh and never had someone pedel it before, but I like my bike. It was worth the work.

Patience and understanding. That's all it took for me to get where I wanted to be with my bike. And that's really all you need to get where you want to be with anyone who you want in your life. Never underestimate the power of these things.
Next time you're trying to fix something in your life - whether it be a machine or a relationship - remember those words. Understanding and Patience. Trust me, they go far, and you'll go even further.