“The power of friendship.”

It’s a common phrase that’s joked about in specific entertainment media, mostly because it’s a plot device that gives a story’s hero/heroes a boost to overcome their odds.

As cliché as it’s become in media, few people can deny it’s a real world fact that the right friendships will help you through the messiest situations.

Whether you or someone you know is off facing otherwordly threats, or managing real life people that act like them, someone’s always there for you. Even when they don’t know everything you’re going through, they show up either as a cheerleader, support fire, or a very inventive hybrid of the two.

It sometimes takes a lot to overcome the idea that you might be bothering them when asking for help. I’ve been there countless times, even in the new seasons to this day. In time, you know who will reach out and respond when they can.

Sometimes they even reach out without a prompt.

A blessing of kind words, a few dollars into your Venmo or the like, any surprise gesture reminding you that you are special to them. That when you came to mind, that was the moment to remind you that you are loved and supported. Even when things are mostly going well for you!

More than likely they’ve been where you’ve been, and want to be the support that someone was to that person. Chances are, being the support that you were to them, too.

So much like the final boss in most fantasy stories, the power of friendship can shows up in multiple forms. The big difference is that your friends are helping you defeat the belief that you have to fight alone.

D.F.