You might know about the movie Mamma Mia, the lovely story based on ABBA songs, the one that was directed on a Greek island. There are three women in the film, and somehow when they’re having fun together, the whole world seems to be spinning around them, and everybody is wondering about the secret of their charm.
Well, I have something similar in my life.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones, as I still have my childhood friends by my side. Kata and Réka are unquestionably my Tanja and Donna. We live far away from each other, but when we meet, we always make a big Mamma Mia and leave others to wonder about our inexhaustible energy.
We create stories that are worth writing about. Our friendship is unique to its core, and no matter where we end up, we’ll always find the way back to each other. No matter how different we will be, we’ll always remember that feeling we have when we look into each others’ sparkling eyes. It’s a sense of delightful freedom, the promise of great adventures, and never-ending laughings.
If you’re seeking a unique friendship, one that keeps the sparkle shine bright in your eyes and brings variety into your life, it’s essential for you to look for friends with these qualities:
. . .
They Will Go On An Adventure With You
One thing I love about Kata and Réka is that they’re always down for adventures. We can simply call each other with an unexpected ‘hey, wanna go to Italy in the summer for two weeks?’ and the answer will be yes. The kind of yes one can trust—that kind of yes, which is followed by planning, scheduling, and, eventually, booking. Indeed, around 90% of the time, we stick to our ‘adventure’ promises.
I don’t know about you, but I need people like that in my life because sometimes vacations can be tough to organize. I’m quite busy with university and work, and going on a trip is most of the time, not my number one priority. At the same time, I desperately need vacations to recharge and enjoy life without responsibilities.
Trusting that my friends will stick to their words and go on an adventure with me at least once per year spices up my life. It’s the salt and the lemon for my tequila.
How to bring this into your life:
It is extremely important to spend some time with friends and completely turn off the world’s noise, even if it is for just a couple of days. These tiny little adventures can be the highlights of our lives if organized well.
To bring this into your life, start to plan adventures and schedule time for a holiday. Remember, you don’t just encounter friendships like this; you create them by sticking to your vacation promises.
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They Will Make You Laugh Until Your Stomach Hurts
Kata and Réka can make me forget about my problems and laugh until my belly aches all the time we meet. Together, we’ll surely come up with something crazy and enjoy our time in the present moment. On those occasions, nothing else exists; only we and our uplifting happiness.
Some might perceive us as childish or even crazy because of our awkward kind of humor, but the main thing is we’re having such high-level fun that will keep us motivated for weeks.
Indeed, fun and laughing can positively contribute to our health conditions. Allegedly, laughing can reduce stress and anxiety, may boost our immune system, and might also be beneficial to our cardiovascular system. Even if only half of the health benefits of laughing are true, it is something worth having in our lives.
How to bring this into your life:
Don’t be afraid to show your humor and open up to your friends. Some might think you’re a weirdo, but others might laugh with you and appreciate your kind of jokes.
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They Will Create Memories With You
I highly appreciate that with my crazy friends, we always create memories. I can’t remember any occasion where we just met up and only talked. Admittedly exchanging information with friends and talking about our lives is a relaxing activity, and I enjoy doing it with some of my friends.
With Kata and Réka, it is different, though. We probably have many black spots regarding each other’s lives, but we never waste our time solely telling what we have happened in the past. When we are together, we focus on the present moment: Either we watch the sunset from a random boat or dance through the night in a pub where the sole source of music is an old jukebox, we indeed create something we can remember.
“It’s like one of those summer nights with your friends by the ocean. You’re drinking straight from the bottle, singing the memories of the best years and for just that night you’re infinite. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. There is no future. You have earned the present.” — Charlotte Eriksson
How to bring this into your life:
Don’t just meet up with your friends to talk about yourself and your problems. It is important to reflect and ask for help in hard times, but creating memories also has its place.
Go together somewhere near, do a picnic, wake up early to watch the sunrise, sleep in a tent, swim naked in hidden rivers, or hitchhike. Create moments that feel deeply good in your guts. Make the adventures with your friends you always wanted to do but were too afraid to ask.
. . .
Even if you’re separated for a long time or have some conflicts, nothing will change. You are family.
I’m studying in Vienna, while my friends are based in a Hungarian city far away. They also can’t meet that frequently as everyday life’s duties usually come into the picture and spoil the plans.
We also had some serious conflicts with one of them during the hard times of 2020. I had the feeling she is not listening to me, and I cannot rely on her when I have some difficulties in my life.
Still, when we met after a long time, we hugged each other and were happy to realize it is still the same old feeling we create. We just vibe together on a different level. Life can sometimes come across our plans and separate us for shorter or longer periods, but we’ll always find the way back to each other.
I think our secret is having no expectations and appreciating every second when we can spend some crazy time together.
How to bring this into your life:
It’s hard to have no expectations towards others, especially towards your beloved ones. It’s also quite controversial because friends are there to help every time we need them, aren’t they?
One thing I can say for sure is that you’ll always know whether a friendship is worth fighting for or it is already time to let it go. Trust that gut feeling.
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A sense of delightful freedom.
It is hard to describe the feeling I usually experience with my girls.
It is the purest form of love, where there are no boundaries, and where I can experience a sense of delightful, unconditional freedom. It feels like life problems cannot enter our world because something bigger is happening than the tiny issues of everyday life when we are together. We accept ourselves and each other the way we are, don’t judge, don’t expect things to happen, and don’t force anything at all. We just; Are. (Intended pun here, Kata)
One day in the mountains during a ski camp, we are dedicated to going each and every year feels like this, for example. Waking up with a gasp of rapture and excitement, we turn on some music to sing along during breakfast. After the hot cup of coffee pumped up our brains with delight, we quickly get ready for a day full of snowboarding. Every evening we find some innocent victims, a perfect audience for our show that usually includes singing or dancing on the table.
“See, my aim is not to survive but to be thrown to the wolfs with adrenaline still pumping in my veins and hear the gods laughing saying ”that was one hell of a youth” and everything I do I do in order to push my senses and levels of natural ecstasy. I want to be so awake that I pass out by exhaustion every night with a smile on my face and no thoughts of tomorrow because today was all I ever could make of it and I am sick and tired of boredom. — Charlotte Eriksson
How to bring this into your life:
I genuinely believe in order to find people with whom we can vibe the best, we have to be ourselves. We have to live according to our values and spend time with something we love.
If you’re looking for your Kata and Réka, I can suggest you do what you love in your free time with new people involved. For example, if you enjoy painting, apply for a painting camp and make it easier for you to get to know new people. Sports camps, retreats, or organized holidays seem to be an excellent opportunity for finding your unique friends.
. . .
I keep wondering, how can be our friendship with Kata and Réka even possible. I’m incredibly grateful for it, and I hope we’ll keep our traditions for a lifetime and create new ones as well.
Besides going on a snowboarding holiday each year, I can imagine we’ll introduce a week, where we’ll do a surfing holiday each summer. There is also a great chance we’ll end up scuba diving on a random tropical island at some point in our lives…
I wish all of you had friends in your life like Kata and Réka.
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This post was previously published on Hello, Love.
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Photo credit: iStock