Have you ever wondered how life would be if you have not made any friends? Have you ever asked yourself who will you be if people do not come and go? Have you asked yourself these questions? Well, I have. Many times, in fact.

Many think I am a joyful person. Many observe that I am a happy one. They see me as the clown of the group, the source of laughter, the happy pill. Little do they know that I am the total opposite when I am alone.

For me, life is a complicated journey with a lot of happenings in between. Life is a battlefield that I should win. But during wars, allies are important, they are vital. They spell whether or not you stand a chance against your enemies. The more allies you have, the better and greater chance you have of winning. In life, we call these allies, friends.

Friends are people who will be your support group in times of crisis. They pull you up when you are down. They cheer you up when you are sad. They inject sanity to your brain when you act insane. And, they will be your anaesthesia when you are in pain. Over all, being a friend seems so tiring.

The thing is, not all people could be your life-long friend. Time will come that some will just pretend; some will turn their backs against you. Worse, your one-time friend may be your biggest nightmare.

So, what should we do?

Yes, life is an ongoing battle against these invisible foes: fear, insecurity, jealousy and hatred. But what makes it different from any other war? The difference is, it does not require many allies, what it requires are true and real allies. Life is a battle where quality beats quantity.

Friends are easy to find, real ones are not. You can have a friend by a snap of your fingers, but you don’t know how long that so-called friendship will last.

What we should do is take risks. Take risks in finding true friends. We cannot find true ones if we will confine ourselves in our own little bubbles. We will not know who real friends are if we isolate ourselves and do not explore the beauty of the world. We won’t be able to distinguish real diamonds from fake ones if we do not scratch it.

I admit having an uncanny personality. I will laugh for no apparent reason. I will suddenly feel sadness and will drip tears. I will smile at everyone thinking they are all my friends. I will make abrupt decisions and suffer the consequences. I will talk and say non-sense that could sometimes hurt other people’s feelings. I will annoy my colleagues by d mannerisms and habits.

That’s why it takes a long time for me to find real and genuine friends. It takes me a while to give my full trust to someone because I am unique.

Luckily, I managed to find real gems along this battle.

They accepted me for who I am. They just don’t know my name; they know who carries that name.

They pull me up when I am down. They cheer me up when I am sad. And, they make my life easy. Relatively easy.

Being with the people who know the real you makes this battle significantly important. Having them by our side gives us reason to fight. Having true friends makes this fight worth fighting for.

Real friends maybe our own family or strangers whom we consider family. They will serve as our cushion when we fall, and a spring for a jumpstart. They will be our light in dark roads and they will be our companions when we travel.

To find genuine friends, you must be your true self as well. Show them the real you and they will also show you who they really are.

Genuine personality deserves genuine friends. Be true, be real, be honest and enjoy the feeling of having true friends and the benefits of having one.