It is, what it is...
“I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more that I care about someone, the more sure I am they’re going to get tired of me and take off.” ― Rainbow Rowell

A friendship is a relationship of congruence and equality. We can only be friends with people we respect, who act and behave according to the values that we admire. When we share the same values and ideas with our friends, authenticity in thought and action becomes normal. We can only be our real selves when we are in company of our friends, because they are the only ones who know exactly the right things that allow them to understand and judge us correctly.

We argue with our friends, we disclose embarrassing details of our lives in conversation and we are blunt and honest with them. We are able to do this because our relationship is real and solid, and does hide the truth behind formal politeness or social norms. We can get mad at our friends without damaging the relationship because we know the strength of our connection can handle our flaws.

“Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.” ― Amos Bronson Alcott

Great friends have a higher tolerance for each other’s mistakes and flaws because they see the other as a rounded person capable of both extraordinary and clumsy things. Friends don’t judge us in the same way as strangers. For them, we have a past and a future and we are not defined by single moments of greatness or failure. Friends will laugh when you’ll make a fool of yourself but will also comfort you and help you pull yourself together.

Friends are usually those people who hear all our stories sometimes multiple times and with whom we meet to talk, laugh, brainstorm or joke around. We rarely leave room for silence to set in between us and our friends, because most of us think that silence is uncomfortable and awkward and that it shows a lack of connection. The reality is that a true connection is not bothered at all by silence. We don’t have to be always talking to enjoy each other’s presence. We can appreciate the other just for being with us and for its calm and comforting presence.

“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.” ― Gloria Naylor

Friends do come and go in our lives and we can hardly know who is going to stay with us in the long term. That is why adjusting and changing our personalities to please others is never a solution to keep friends close. A friendship does not mean mutilation of one’s personality. We must remain true to ourselves and hope that there are people who will like and appreciate the real us without the need to change who we are.