Friendship - the only way to have a friend is to be one!
Friendship - the only way to have a friend is to be one!
If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky. S.E. Hinton
How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
Definition of a friend: a state of enduring affection, esteem, intimacy, and trust between two people.
Facts:
80% of the value of your friendship will come from 20% of your friends. Having a lot of friends is lovely but ultimately we only receive true friendship from a small number of people so focus on quality over quantity.
During our lifetime, we form three types of friendships; either for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
Jim Rohn the American author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur was quoted as saying that “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” The people who you surround yourself with are your role models. Think carefully about who you allow into your inner circle as these core friendships impact on your mindset and how successful your life will be.
Do your friends encourage you to fulfil your ambitions?
Do your friends have lives that you would want to lead?
Do you give equally in your friendships?
Do you look forward to seeing your friends?
Do you support each other?
Are your friends loyal and faithful?
Are you open and honest with each other?
Do you make time to see each other?
We form friendships for many reasons and some friendships can last for a lifetime and others only for a short period of time.
Qualities of a healthy friendship (in no particular order):
Having things in common
Mutual respect
Trust
Loyalty
Making time to see each other (not just text and Whatsapp friends)
Celebrating each other victories
Supporting each other during difficult times
Honesty
Freedom to be - no demanding or pressurising behaviour
No expectations
Generosity of heart
Kindness
Fun times
No judgements
Equality - talking and listening in equal amounts
We don't always get it right and sometimes we experience antagonism in a friendship which negatively impacts us and we may decide to call it quits. Friendships invariably fall away because one of you has moved in another direction and you are no longer aligned in the friendship.
As individuals we are always growing and changing and during our lifetime, we will nurture our closest friends, meet new friends and feel less close to other friends or we may lose friendships entirely. Whatever the case, it is important to be grateful and honour all our friends.
A prayer for all our friends including the friends that we once knew and loved:
Thank you for this wonderful friendship, for the love, the laughter and all the good times. Thank you for holding my hand and being there for me during the hard times too. I am so grateful to have met you, you are so special to me and you have enriched my life in ways you don’t even realise and for all of this I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.
