I have had many friends in my life so far and they have all been very different. Two people to whom I have been closest are Mary and Kat. While similar in their supportive and generous natures, Kat and Mary contrasted with each other in most other ways. While Kat was assertive, proactive and confident, Mary was introverted, indecisive and wary of life.
Mary and I were friends for around five years. She was an unusual girl. She was fairly intelligent but had not done well academically. She was a very kind person, constantly lavishing me with kind gestures and little gifts. Furthermore, Mary was a good listener. She was frequently the first person I would approach when I had a problem or when I needed to talk. Nevertheless, it was an equal friendship and it worked both ways. I would also listen and advise her whenever she needed me, which she often did.
The only negative element to my friendship with Mary was that I found myself becoming frustrated with her at times. She was very shy and introverted, especially socially. She would rarely come out of an evening with me. She preferred to stay in, just the two of us, and watch films. On the occasion that I talked her into going out for the night she would very often cancel at the last minute. All of this wouldn’t have been that annoying, except that she would spend a lot of her time complaining that she didn’t have a very exciting life or many friends. Both of these things were quite true, but whenever I suggested that we do something about it, she would cancel me with a feeble excuse.
Kat, on the other hand, was a very different friend. While, like with Mary, Kat and I had a mutually supportive friendship, she was much more outgoing than Mary. She loved doing a wide range of activities together, from watching television to going out on the town, to having long walks in the countryside or going to dance classes. Being Kat’s friend was a great deal of fun, perhaps due to the variety involved.
Furthermore, Kat was popular and maintained healthily friendships with many people. Unlike Mary, she found it easy to communicate with others and to enjoyed meeting new people. She and I would often go out for the evening and end up making new friends from different walks of life. Additionally, she would hardly ever cancel if we had something planned. She was much more assertive in deciding what she did and didn’t feel like doing, and tended to stick to her decisions. Also, she was highly academic and very successful in her career.
Perhaps the most noticeable contrast between Mary and Kat was that Kat would go to any length to improve any areas of her life about which she was unsatisfied. If she wanted to achieve something then nothing would hold her back. While Mary would often make excuses not to make changes in her life, Kat embraced making such alterations.
Both Mary and Kat were important people in my life. Kat still is today, but I have now lost contact with Mary. Both have been good friends to me in terms of support and encouragement. However, Mary’s contradictory attitudes towards her own life made it difficult for our friendship to continue, whereas Kat’s forward thinking and optimistic nature has helped our friendship to blossom.
