Friendship Means More Than You Know

To be completely honest, this is my first entry and I am not completely sure what is being looked for. With that in mind, I think I will write about how much a friend can influence you. Without knowing, a friend can literally change the way you act, who you are, and what you believe in. This can be a scary concept, but with the right people in your life, it can turn out far better than you'd ever believe. I stand behind that fact, because I have experienced this situation in my own life.
From the time I was four years old, to about the time I turned sixteen, I was a full time gymnast. That required so much of my time, and I never had time to make friends outside of my gym. I was heavily influenced by my coach, who was a very deceitful woman to her gymnasts and their parents. Without going into detail, my coach did not have morals that you would expect from someone who molded little girls' lives. Her personal life greatly carried over into her gym. As I grew up with her as my mentor, I began to do everything I could for her. Shutting out my parents, I was starting to change my "sweet girl" status to some sarcastic, coach's favorite. Altough I was unaware of the horrible attitude I'd developed, it was very present. Around the time I was thirteen, I was asked to coach younger kids as well as balance my gymnastics career. As this went on, it came to the point where my own coach had ME coaching more than doing gymnastics. How would I ever get my gymnastics scholarship this way? In the times I tried to turn her down, it ended with me never being able to say no. Sadly, my attempt at fixing things took leaving the sport and team I had loved for so long, . I told my best friends the day I "retired", only to feel as if I had let down the world. I had always wanted to earn a scholarship for my talent in gymnastics, and that would no longer be possible and I had even lost most of my friends at that. I knew I'd had bad attitude outside of my gym, but I was the peace maker and "go-to" person for all the girls on my team. Leaving that sport and family was one of the hardest days of my life, and I never expected them to understand, let alone respect me.
To my surprise, I learned that all of the girls I'd been on the team with admired me for standing up. My two best friends, Tara and Jessica, have shown me nothing less than love and respect to this very day. Tara has recieved a full ride scholarship to Mizzou through her gymnastics, and never once bragged about it or reminded me that I could have done the same. In the progression of my new life, they have continued to play a huge role and I have made two new best friends., Patrick and Addie.
While I was at this low point, Tara and Jess were so persistent in letting me know they were there for me and that I'd earn school money some how. They continually kept me in their every day plans and did the littlest things for me. Those little things literally brought me through my depression. As I regained joy, I met my newest best friends. Patrick and Addie were more than I could have ever asked for. Even though I believed everyone was generally a good person, I always thought people had hidden motives in being nice to me. But as time lead on, they had shared more with me than I would have thought possible.
Through a crazy mess of friendship circles, all four of them were introduced to each other and with the help of time and music, we've managed to be the tightest five-way best friends around. There are so many things that my friends have brought me through that I couldn't begin to explain to you, but sometimes not everything needs to be explained. The good things are always seemed to be understood. I may have lost my important status to my coach, the sport I love, and my hopes for a gymnastics scholarship, but in that I have learned that I have the best support I could ever imagine. My friends support me and encourage me in every aspect of my life, and I could not ask for more.
This is probably not a typical entry, but I know I'd take the time to read if someone posted about their friends. People aren't always blessed with true friends, but having them means more than you know. They've brought me through the toughest times, and have been happy for me in my best times. Even though this may not be a world issue, I think it is one that is never appreciated enough. I hope that at least a few of you get as much out of this as I tried to give you.

-Carsyn