by fairychild

Created on: November 15, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2009

Deep, meaningful and life-changing friendships are one of the best things about life. There is nothing more than deep and rare platonic connection with another human. It feeds your soul, awakens your heart and heals raw wounds.

It can easily be one of the best relationships a person can have. It's rare and hard to find. It's the type of friendship that exists beyond the material world. It's a meeting of minds, intellect, values, morals, humour, compassion, empathy and a deep love for the other person. Even after many days, months and years have passed with no or very little contact, you will know the true meaning of that friendship, if you can easily pick-up from were you left.

To become this person who shares this type of friendship, you have to equally invest in the relationship. Too often, the balance is thrown off by one person giving too much and the other, contributing too little. And is some cases not all.

This is a dangerous friendship. The friend on the receiving end can become selfish, self-indulgent and egotistical.

For the latter friend, he/she can become drenched in resentment. It is often in this moment, our ugliest and darkest sides are revealed to us. It may be difficult to let go of this friendship. Sometimes out of loyalty after many years have past, people are reluctant to let go. And sometimes we are given to believe that this friendship is worth saving. But no matter how hard you try, it will never work. Simply because, the selfish friend will never truly understand what it is to be a friend. Until that lesson had been learnt, nothing more can be done.

But when there is a friendship with equality, the possibilities are endless. It is within this type of friendship, the person you truly are meant to be is unveiled.

A caring friend is someone who when you're sick, drives to house and takes you to the doctor without asking. Its the friend who will hold your hand when you're sad. Hold you when your heart is breaking and holds back you hair when you get to drunk.

They are the people who want to share your happiest moments and your darkest days. They will support you and never judge you. They will allow you to be yourself and never criticize you for it.

They will tell you when your wrong and even support your bad decisions. These are the people you can call at 4am because you're lonely or scared. They sense your needs and fulfill them without wanting anything in return.

While this type of friendship is hard to find, I have no doubt that it exists. Someone once told me that a person only gets half of what they need from a partner. The rest, your friends will take of.

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