Friendship is one of those things that I never want to take for granted.

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to a conference and meet up with some of my closest friends in the world.

Most of these women I haven’t seen since before the pandemic.

For me, it was such a wonderful reminder of the power of true friendship.

Life gets busy sometimes, and we may go weeks or even months without talking to one another. But when we get together, it’s like no time has passed at all.

We could talk for hours—and we did. This is what I loved about our latest adventure. We caught up, and we stayed up way too late.

We also had the most amazing and powerful conversations. The kind of conversations that are meaningful and inspiring.

Friendship means you are there for each other when times get tough.

Life is hard. And I think that sometimes, we forget that when we are struggling, there are people out there who want to strengthen and support us.

They are ready and willing to help us through those really challenging times when we feel overwhelmed and all alone.

Friendship is about sharing and caring for one another. Because of this, it’s important to remember that we don’t need to stay silent when we’re struggling.

Reach out to your friends and let them help and comfort you. After all, that’s what true friends are for.

Friendship means we are never too busy for one another.

So many people say to me, “Oh, Simone, you’re so busy. I don’t want to bother you.”

But I will make time for my friends because I want to be there to support them. And I really value the time I have with them.

My friends lift me just as much as I lift them. That’s why their friendship is so important to me.

It’s about where I put my priorities. And if one of my friends needs something, I want to be there for them.

I don’t ever want my friends to think that I’m too busy for them.

Our latest adventure was a reminder to all of us that no matter how busy we are, we want to be there for each other.

And if someone is struggling, they shouldn’t wait until we’re together to talk about their struggles.

Friendship is about reaching out in the good times and bad.

We all struggle, but we also each have the ability to lift and strengthen one another.

Recognizing this made me realize that we all need to make more of an effort to reach out and support one another.

If we’re struggling, we can reach out to find strength and support to help us through our struggles. And if life is okay for us at the moment, we can reach out, see how our friends are doing, and offer support when they need it.

There are plenty of times when I’ve struggled in silence because I didn’t want to bother other people.

But the truth is, in those times when I struggled alone, it took me much longer to move through the struggle.

On the contrary, when I reach out and call a friend and share what I’m struggling with, I can cry, be angry, or express any other emotion with no judgment.

Then my friend talks me through the struggle and helps me realize that I’m going to be okay and I’m not alone.

This kind of support is even better than affirmations because it comes from someone outside yourself who loves you for who you are.

It’s powerful, and it’s healing to the soul.

Friendship is about supporting the ones you love.

I’m lucky that I have an amazing friend that I get to spend time with every single day.

My husband is not only an incredible friend but my greatest strength.

When I ask him for something, he is always there to make it happen for me.

When I told him I was going to go away for three nights with my friends, he didn’t even have to think about it. He just said, “Absolutely! I support you and hope you have an amazing time.”

I consider myself very lucky to have this kind of relationship with my husband. And it goes both ways.

If he comes to me and wants to do something, I don’t question it. Sometimes I may question the price tag (wink, wink), but I don’t question what he wants to do.

I want to make sure that he always feels supported as well. It’s taken us a long time to get to that point where we can truly support each other, but that’s what best friends do.

Friendship is about give and take.

While I was away with my friends, my husband stepped up and took all my responsibilities. He took the kids where they needed to go, cooked the meals, helped with homework, did all the driving—and did it all after a full-days work as a surgeon.

This is because we discovered over time that friendship is a give-and-take kind of relationship.

That doesn’t mean it’s an “I take, you give” kind of thing—we both take, and we both give because that’s what it means to support each other.

This is the same kind of relationship I have with the friends I recently got to spend time with.

It doesn’t matter how far away from each other we are. It doesn’t matter what else we have going on in our lives. We want to be there for each other, and we want to support one another.

I am thankful and I am fortunate for the friends in my life.

As I move through life’s challenges, I will continue to remind myself that I am not alone.

I have friends, and they are my biggest supporters.