We all have seen it. And if you haven’t, then you’re either ignorant or oblivious. The friend that walks on the grass. Most of us have experienced this, other than a lucky few. All your friends walk in a row on concrete, and you don’t want to walk behind them, so you settle for walking on the grass. In 99% of the groups I’m in, I’m usually that person. Upon me saying this and letting this article be published, I will probably be bombarded with texts along the lines of “noo don’t say that <3.” But that’s the truth, and it doesn’t mean anything bad to be that person.

If being almost halfway through high school has taught me anything, it’s that friend groups usually revolve around 1-3 people. You know that person who walks in a room, and everyone IMMEDIATELY runs to them and surrounds them like children around the cake? Well, that person is usually the center, the sun per se. People go where they go and listen to what they say no matter what. The thing about this “role” is that not everyone can be it. So inevitably, you get pushed to the grass. I know this sounds depressing but there’s a silver lining to it. Being alone. I know this sounds like a terrible and rotten silver lining but hear me out. You’ll be with yourself for the rest of your life, and if you don’t find some level of comfort and contentment with it, you will never be happy. Think of it like a drug. Friends are drugs. Without them, you go into withdrawal, so you keep seeking people. However, because you can’t maintain that same happiness without them, you crash when alone. In other words, other than your family, any relationship is there as an ornamentation to your life, not to “fix” it. Now don’t get me wrong, friends can save your life, but that still doesn’t do anything if you aren’t self-sufficient enough without them. But what does this have to do with being that friend that walks on grass?

This is very opinionated but growing up as that kid on the grass can teach you things that being the center never will. When you’re happy by yourself, you hold more value to who you become friends with rather than going with people who actively leave you out. In five years, you won’t think about the fact that nobody ever texted you or that you walked on grass. You honestly won’t because of the better friends you would have made by then and the contentment you get from yourself. You won’t be lonely, you’ll have just learned to be alone in solitude.