The value and importance of a true friend

In the past couple of months I have sat back and realized the value, worth and hard work of a true friend. All my life I have always been surrounded by my very closest of friends until I moved. Those friends were a lot easier to make since we were all in school together. I seem to have been so wrapped up in my own world of working that I haven't really bothered to cultivate many friendships. I have realized just how hard it is to make and find those special people. People already have their groups they hang with and who really wants to add another?? Then you think you find someone and it's not what you thought and that process goes on and on..... That part is really hard for me since I tend to trust everyone immediately. I tend to get hurt often and that only makes me want to shut myself off from everyone.

Found some great quotes I wanted to share...

"Sometimes in life, you find a special friend. Someone who changes your life just by being a part of it. Someone who makes you laugh until you can't stop. Someone who makes you believe that there really is good in the world. Someone who convinces you that there really is an unlocked door just waiting for you to open it. This is forever friendship. When you're down and the world seems dark and empty, your forever friend lifts you up in spirit and makes that dark and empty world suddenly seem bright and full. Your forever friend gets you through the hard times, the sad times and the confused times. If you turn and walk away, your forever friend follows. If you lose your way, your forever friend guides you and cheers you on. Your forever friend holds your hand and tells you that everything is going to be okay. And if you find such a friend, you feel happy and complete because you need not worry. You have a forever friend, and forever has no end." ---Unknown

"Friends are the most important part of your life. Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter, but most importantly, treasure the memories."---Dave Brenner

"Sometimes life is hard to bear when a friend is just not there." ---William Franc

"A best friend is a sister destiny forgot to give you." ---Unknown

"Friends are always friends no matter how far you have to travel back in time. If you have memories together, there is always a piece of your friendship inside your heart." ---Kellie O'Connor

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. ~Aristotle

A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself. ~Frances Ward Weller

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson