10 things that keep your bestie your bestie for 10+ years

We have been blessed with a pretty seamless friendship. We met on the track field in 2005, and we've been besties ever since. Friendships do take effort and as we get older the more we realize which friendships are important to put the work in on, and which ones to kiss goodbye. After over a decade of best friendship here are some keys to success we have learned along the way.

1. Trust them - Its important to have that one person (outside of your significant other) that you trust. You can tell them the basics, or delve deeper and still know they got you.

2. Be authentic- Yep, we are pretty darn comfortable around each other and have seen eachother at the highest of highs and lowest of lows. What good is a best friend if you can't share the good the bad and the hysterical with them? We may not be smelling the roses all the time, but we are pretty real with each other on all aspects of life! Leave the filters at the door please.

3. Distance is irrelevant- There was a point when we lived a plane ride away. It was not fun, but we made time to chat on skype or via phone when we could, to catch up on life. Now, me with 2 jobs and her with a family and jobs, it's much harder to see each other as often as we wish but we make time for family night once or twice a week to catch up and hang out. If you are busy, its better to try to pencil them in rather than letting them go, just sayin!

4. Support them through life's experiences- We are lucky our friendship started when it did because that means we had each other through graduation, heartbreak, weddings, new babies, pregnancy and really every day life in general. It's been a wild but fun ride.

5. Know that friendship grows and changes and it's 100% OK- In every season you will have friends that are incredible to get you through the day to day. As life throws you curves and changes, those relationships can change too. We are very lucky to have a ton in common (people would say twins in the weirdest way, we would have to agree) and very little that we don't have in common. Neither of us are the same person we were 10 years ago (thank goodness), but we have grown closer as time goes on, and that is pretty special and rare. And right now I am pretty lucky with the friends I have chosen to keep in my life. Key word being chosen.

6. Show up- Be there when they need you most, or even when they might just need you a little. Cry with them when they cry (also, insert ugly cry when McDreamy dies, yes that counts!!), and laugh with them when they laugh. You will never regret the times you came through for them, but you will definitely regret that one time you chose not to.

7. Hold onto tradition- Even if those traditions include watching reality TV and pad thai take out. It's not even that we watch every episode of the Bachelor religiously, it's that we use it as a time each week to get together. There are some nights in we missed the whole episode because we were talking or laughing about something else...like Jimmy Fallon. Those things are things that will never get old, trust us, we've been at it for over a decade after all.

8. Embrace each other's quarks - We are fortunate to have a lot of the same quarks, so they don't often become annoyances to each other. Enjoy the moment, even when you are both downright weird. Sing loud in the car, lose the filter, and exchange the awkward faces while in public (guilty, guilty & guilty.)

9. Sip and Stay- This one is key. It doesn't matter if your drink of choice is coffee, tea, or wine. No matter how long the time in between visits, you will know a great friendship when you walk away from enjoying their company over a good ol' bev of choice. Even when our schedules have been at their busiest we have made time for coffee shop dates, or in the summer a quick happy hour. It gives you a chance to check in and catch up. We both make sure to do this with all of our closest friends.

10.Leave the judgment at the door- As a best friend you have the other's back. No matter what. You are in their corner, even if it is something ridiculous they are upset about (riciduclous but completely justifiable right...). You will be there for each other through awful fashion trends, body changes (and bodily functions let's be real here, pregnancy am I right?), and everything in between. Although there is no judgment, don't forget there's also no filter, so feel free to direct them away from those acid washed high wasties.

Cheers to knowing you'll have someone to compete in wheelchair races with!!

#INSPIRATION #WINGS #LIFE #FRIENDSHIP