What Friendship Is and Why It’s so Important
Neither adults nor children are often able to tell us what friendship is. And though it seems strange, in fact few people are lucky enough to make true friends and become a friend to someone in return. Like any relationship, friendship requires work on oneself, a great willingness to help and understand one’s friend.
Let’s compare different kinds of relationships to friendship, understand how to maintain it and why it’s so important.
What Is Friendship
Friendship is a strong interpersonal relationship built on joint trust and affection. Friends are connected by the same goals, ideals, interests and favorite activities. Some people have several friends, rely on them, are convinced of their sincerity and honesty, but most people believe that a friend should be the only one. Everyone is bound to have buddies around us, but they go their separate ways in the future, and with friends you go through life side by side.
Not everyone is able to maintain friendships for the long term. As a rule, there is a lack of communication, there are mutual resentments, and friendships fall apart. Some people find it difficult to find a soul mate to be on the same page. You can eat a lot of salt together, but don’t become close. Some people find it easy to get along with people and take them into their heart territory.
We are surrounded by a society of individuals with their own habits and moral laws, all of whom have different attitudes toward friendship. A huge part of humanity cannot imagine their lives without close gatherings, intimate conversations, and good friendly advice. But there are those who absolutely do not need such companionship and prefer solitary pastimes.
The foundations of friendship are laid in childhood. Valuable notions of it pass us through life and contribute to the formation of a worthy and multifaceted personality. From an early age friendships help cultivate communication skills in children, thanks to them easier adaptation in children’s groups. Mature person friendship gives a sense of relevance and importance, which allows to overcome the social distance.
The presence of friends makes life bright and rich. The individuality of each gives friendship a special meaning, it’s not only a pleasant companionship but also self-improvement.
The Difference Between Friendship and Other Types of Communication
Between friendship and love there is often a subtle difference. Of course, friends don’t marry, but most of the aspects found in love exist in a friendship relationship. Mutual aid, respect, understanding, involvement in each other’s affairs, attention, caring, and shared hobbies are a small part of it. Of course, in a family relationship, it’s all larger and deeper, and in a friendship, it’s more fun and warm.
If you’re in regular contact with someone and have similar interests, it’s not a friendship relationship yet. So those who enjoy betting and new bookmaker together or go to the gym with each other aren’t friends yet.
With buddies you cross paths and talk, you’re interesting and easy, you have a lot of topics together, you don’t feel shy in their presence. But your secrets stay with you, buddies don’t ask for help or support if the need arises.
Friends are two bodies, but one soul. A friend will be there for you even if the whole world is against it. He will hurt you if you are hurt. He will share with you not only the joys but also the failures of life.
It’s impossible to acquire a friend in one day, it’s necessary to spend time with him, to find common ground and become one.
The Basic Laws of Friendship
Belief in Friendship
Believing in the very fact of friendship should be without doubt and suspicion, without insisting on arguments and evidence. Trust is a fundamental principle of true friendship. Mutual aid, participation and the other components of a warm relationship are built on it.
Fostering Positive Qualities
Personality, ready for friendship, should develop in himself fortitude, courage, determination, reliability, and other positive qualities. Fortitude neighbors with consistency and persistence in decision-making. Courage will come to the rescue in a moment of help. Determination won’t let go astray. Iron will enable you to resist laziness, bad moods, and bad situations. Reliability will never betray and will never let you down.
The presence of these character traits makes a person a well-established, perfect, whole person. And one who becomes his friend will be very lucky. Such a person will never betray, will never leave and won’t allow to doubt the sincerity of his feelings.
Help
In any situation, a faithful friend must help and come to the rescue, regardless of personal circumstances. No obstacles – neither distance, nor physical condition, nor the mood of life – should not interfere with loyalty to friends and a sense of duty to them. If obstacles arise, a friend must make every effort, but not abandon a loved one in trouble.
Self-Sacrifice
This is a basic rule of friendship. It is directly related to mutual assistance, but friendly involvement in this case must be deeper and more decisive. Circumstances can be such that intervention will cost you your life or health. Self-sacrifice implies that you, without thinking twice, would prefer to die to save your friend. This, of course, is everyone’s personal choice, but the highest degree of loyalty is a state of mind that is expensive.
All the rules of true friendship are followed intuitively. You can’t force a person to turn into a perfect friend. The attitude toward friendship is nurtured from diapers. How simple it would be – decided next Monday to become a faithful and loyal friend, ready for all kinds of help and other sacrifices, and everything worked out. But people capable of such determination are rather the exception, a piece of a specimen with a pure fire in their heart.
The test of friendship has its own peculiarities. Two, if they are ready to become true friends, must equally strive to help out and help, to feel affection and an equal, trusting attitude. Friendship should be mutual: meetings and conversations, shared dreams, plans and interests. True friendship is based on these principles.
