“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” — Muhammad Ali
As we get older, our friendship circle gets smaller and smaller. The ones who were meant to stay; stayed. I’ve come to realize that friendship takes the same amount of effort as a relationship. In a relationship you have to be loyal, faithful, and respectful and communicate effectively. You have to put in the work and the effort to keep the relationship going, the same effort should be put into friendship.
Every New Year’s Day people post about “leaving bad friends behind”. While it never occurs to them, they might be the problem. We all use the excuse that we are too busy to talk to our friends all the time, but ask yourself, would you go weeks and months without talking to your partner? A simple “Hey how are you?” Or “Hey, I see you?” Just check in to make sure they are good. Adulthood comes with a lot of responsibilities that take most of our time taking care of ourselves, but that’s not an excuse for being a shitty friend. We make the time for the things we want to make time for.
Friendship is a necessity, you need your friends for many things in life. Whether it’s 2 or 10 friends, you will need them at some point in your life, so start working on your friendship. Put in the effort and time so you don’t have to post every year about cutting people off. Ask yourself why those friendships didn’t work, question the importance of those friendships. Friendship is a two way street way, so be the kind of friend you want others to be for you. Friendship grows and changes with time, it is a devoted relationship and one of the greatest bonds in life.
- Choose friends wisely
- Communicate openly and honestly
- Be yourself
- Accept your friends for you they are
- Respect their choices in life
- Express your gratitude
- Make time for your friends
- Have fun together