Friends And Their Support

You tend to lose people with each step in life you complete. It is inevitable, and sometimes these new changes snap half of your friends out of existence. Gone, like dust in the wind. (Brownie points for naming that reference in the comments) But, there are those magical people that seem to stay with you during every step you take. They don’t get mad when you disappear for months on end. They listen to you when you vent about life’s evil schemes to make your life miserable. They are there for you as much as they can be. 

I learned a valuable lesson in friendship once I released my first book. A lesson I will never forget. I had everything planned out in my mind. Release my book, tell everyone, then sit back and watch all my friends devour every word I spilled on paper. Naive, right? Of course it was and it definitely didn’t work out that way. 

To say the least, it put me in a funk. Was my writing bad? Was the story too bland? Were the characters not fleshed out properly? (I’m an over thinker. I can’t help it. It drives me crazy too.) So, I went to the man that I always go to when I have a problem that needs some clarity. My dad. I promise you he has an answer to ninety-nine percent of my questions. Most of us think our parents are the smartest people in the world. We are all wrong, but he is the smartest person in MY world, my little bubble on this planet. 

My dad made me realize the truth. The thing I never thought about. Your friends support you in their own way. Once he explained that to me, I realized how rich I was. I have a literal goldmine of friends willing to help me how THEY can help me. Maybe not how I want them to, but do we ever really know what we want or need?

There are some friends who have never read my books but bought them both. There are friends who share and like everything I put on social media. I have a friend that will listen to literally all of my crazy rants about everything, regardless of how insane I sound. I have a friend that started sending me writing prompts whenever he thought of them. Then, there is the one that devours all of my writing and then rips it apart to make me better. I have friends that support me. I see that now.

Sometimes we need to take a step back and look at what we have, opposed to what we want. That does not mean we shouldn’t want more, but don’t forget what you have already in front of you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, for all you have done for me through these years. The likes and comments. The feedback. The book sales and reviews. Listening to me. Being there for me. My journey would be nothing without all of you. Also, thank you dad, for… well, being my dad. You’re awesome.

So, go tell them, thank you, for being the magical friends that stay with you every step you take.