Friendship is one of those things in life that can shape who you are. My Mum used to tell me, “Sipho, choose your friends wisely, they are who you become”, meaning the people that we call our friends, the ones we allow to speak into our lives, can have a negative or positive impact on our lives.
I have gone through various seasons in life, and as the seasons have changed, some friends have remained the same and other friendship dynamics have changed.
Most of my friends are running in their own lane and pursuing the dreams/aspirations that they feel called to, be it in the Techy sector, the fashion or music industry, in journalism, or raising the next generation and being solely responsible in instilling values that will potentially stay with them for the rest of their lives.

“Surround yourself with people that believe in you”

Being around these friends has encouraged and inspired me in ways that I cannot even begin to express. It’s so important to surround yourself with people that will believe in you, that will see you the way God sees you, they will see that you are capable, they will help you see that the decisions you make today affect what your life will look like tomorrow, they will remind you who you are when you doubt it, they will be there through the tough times and through the good times, and yet they will also challenge you when you are about to make dumb decisions.
I’ve learned that you have to allow certain people to have the tough conversations with you and not be friends with people that only tell you what you want to hear, but rather, love you enough to say, “Hey, that behaviour is not cool – you’re better than that.”
It takes true friends to correct you. We never really grow if we are friends with people that only ever tell us what we want to hear. As much as I hate to admit it some of my life changing moments have been when friends have sat me down and been honest with me about areas in my character that needed working on, and they have also allowed me to do the same for them.
Now don’t get me wrong its not about criticising someone, but rather it’s iron sharpening iron so that we are growing, and learning, and maturing but also having a good balance and throwing in some fun.
One friend loved and believed in me when I was a bit of a handful back in the day, because of her grace it showed me what true friendship was, and as a result, made me want to be the friend that I had been shown.
I love my friends and they are the same group of girls that I have had the privilege to do life with over the course of many years. We laugh, we cry, we dream, we encourage each other and we have each others backs, shoulder to shoulder.
If you have one friend that you can be real with, where you don’t feel like you need to do certain things so you can fit in, my friend you are blessed! Hold onto that friend.

Sips xox

Instagram: @siphobayeto