Everyone looks at their friendship from a different point of view; perhaps you and I both show our friendship to others from a different perspective.
But what is a friend for? Why do we need friendship in our life? And whether the friendship we have with people at this time is true and meaningful or not?
What are the pillars of friendship by which we can identify that our friendship is true and reliable?
Today we will try to understand all these aspects through this article.
5 Must-Haves for a True Friendship
| Forgiveness | ✅ |
| Acceptance | ✅ |
| Apology | ✅ |
| Love | ✅ |
| Loyalty | ✅ |
Understanding Friendship in Life
Most people understand friendship to mean companionship from an outsider. Can’t there be friendship between family members?
People say that we get society and family, on our birth on its own, but we choose friends ourselves.
So does the choice of a friend always have to be done outside the family?
Can’t a mother, father, brother, sister, and other family members be good friends?
Does this mean that only people you meet at school, college, work, social media, or other places are called true friends?
The question is profound; we will attempt to understand it gradually.
Mother, father, brother, sister, and other family members can be your friends, but to a certain limit. That is to say, you can give direction to your friendship with family members only under high ideals.
But if an outsider becomes your friend, you can share with them everything you shy away from sharing with your family members and where there is no outline of ideals.
You can openly express your views with your friend, whether related to your love or your financial situation. Or perhaps it’s a personal problem.
Friends always try to keep us away from loneliness. Or rather, there is no effort. Just the freedom to express one’s thoughts freely, and this happiness gives us the first reminder of friendship.
Simply put, friends are the family you choose.
What Does Friendship Mean?
A true friend listens to your thoughts and considers them, and if they find your ideas too complicated, then they try to understand them.
A sincere friendship is said to be when you are in trouble, and your friend is with you when they’re really needed to be there.
If for some reason, your friend is not present in your problem, then at least the moral support of that friend is vital to be with you for any friendship to prove worthwhile.
11 Essential Pillars of a True Friendship
1. There Is No Formality in a True Friendship
In any true and trusting friendship, there is no formality just to maintain the relationship. Friendship is helping a friend with happiness with no selfishness.
There are many such occasions in friendship when you feel you are standing with your friend only for formality; you cannot do anything for your friend.
But this thinking of yours shows your true loyalty towards your friend.
Your standing by your friend’s side provides a lot of moral support to your friend.
It’s not some relatives or family members, where you stay for 2 minutes, and the formality of your place is completed.
This is a friendship where the needs of you and your friends can’t be fulfilled by staying for 2 minutes.
Formalism in friendship means selfishness. And the meaning of this selfishness is carried out that there’s no friendship at all.
In a true friendship, friends do not show formality to come to you, but they meet you halfway.
2. Friends Never Judge Each Other in Any Way
In a sweet and reliable friendship, friends never judge each other from any point of view.
Whether your financial condition is weak or there’s any problem in your family.
Whether you are unemployed or you are not attractive in appearance, they always see you as their close friend.
If you are stuck in any problem, then your friend will first try to get you rid of that problem, not they will consider you as the cause of that problem.
No matter how the worst problem is, if your friendship is true, then your friend will never understand you as the root of that problem that has arisen in your life.
3. True Friend Tells Truth and Accepts Criticism
In friendship, it is very important to criticise the friend in front of them for any worthwhile work.
A loyal friend should tell everything to their friend that they really don’t want to hear.
Like making them aware of their bad habits and the harm they cause. Giving them the right advice on their financial and family mistakes, etc.
It takes a lot of courage to discuss all these topics openly with a friend. But, all of this means that you care about the person more than you value friendship.
Now, here, it is your friend’s job that how they take your opinion, your advice, or your meaningful criticism.
If they understand you, and your friendship has the maturity to understand each other, then your friend will use your criticism for their own benefit, not to end all their ties with you.
True friends show us the right path from time to time.
They keep us informed about our bitter situation. By adopting their measures, we can improve our personal, social and economic life.
4. Friends Will Stand by Your Side in Any Trouble
True friends don’t leave you in the middle of the way; instead, they’ll meet you in the middle.
That is to say, true friends do not leave you in any of your problems, whether it is family-related, society-related, or even if your financial condition is weak.
Your true friends will support you with a passion for any of your troubles. They do not know how to formalise.
You can openly talk to them about any problem you have. They understand you, they will listen to you.
Proper advice can be given to us only by our friends because they know what environment we live in and how our thinking works.
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5. True Friends Don’t Get Jealous of You
Your happiness will overjoy true friends. They’ll be happier with something important you do, or an achievement you get.
They will never compete with or envy you for any kind of success you have.
Friends will always consider you as their inspiration for each of your achievements. They will always be proud of the success achieved by your hard work.
True friends can never be jealous of you in any way because they see themselves in you. They know that your happiness is also the reason for them to be happy.
6. They Don’t Gossip Behind Your Back
No matter what kind of trouble you are going through.
Whatever your nature is, a loyal friend will never discuss your matter with any third person under all these circumstances.
Even If you and your friend are having resentments.
They will never talk about odd situations involving you behind your back.
If any problem has come between you two, or any kind of personal annoyance has arisen. Then, in this case, your friend will talk to you about that matter, not to someone else.
Your friend will not use any means to solve the problems that arise in a true friendship. They know that the presence of a third person can shake the trust of your friendship.
And no third person knows your friend as much as you know. So you yourself will directly contact your friend to remove the tension arising in your friendship.
Your true friends will never vilify you, slander you, and make fun of you behind your back.
They know that if they do, they will destroy the dignity, the truth, the credibility of your genuine friendship in front of a third person.
7. True Friends Are Like Family
Just as we share everything with our family, in the same way, we can’t hide anything from our friends.
What is happening in the family, what’s newly formed in kinship, even our personal life we share with our true friend.
Whether it’s a reason to be sad or happy. Or, perhaps you’re going through some trouble. Before your family, you share all kinds of experiences with your friend, because you consider your friend as part of your family.
And sometimes, family is not always blood.
For example, in an event, if your friend doesn’t arrive, your family members ask about that person before you. Because they know how special that person is to you.
And they also know that before them, your friend will always stand by you like a true family in any kind of problem you have.
8. With a True Friend You Find Yourself in a Safe, Happy, and Comfortable
In a true friendship, you never feel weak among your friends. You never feel embarrassed about your financial condition or your domestic situation.
No matter what adverse situation you are in, if your friend is by your side, you’ll feel safe.
No matter what kind of worry you’re surrounded by, whenever you sit with your friends, you will forget those worries. You will start laughing and find your surrounding environment happy.
If your concern is critical, your friends will start looking for the problem’s solution. They can’t even see you sad. They will not formalise to end your suffering but will take concrete steps to end that suffering.
9. True Friends Know How To Forgive Your Mistakes
Your friends know everything about you other than what you told them. They can distinguish between your lies and your truth wonderfully.
They understand the lie you are telling and also know why you are lying to them. They’re your true friend, they don’t take your lying as any insult or any loss to them.
Or find ways to say mean things to you.
Your friends do not ignore the mistakes made by you in friendship, but they do something to ensure that those mistakes won’t happen again.
In a normal friendship, many mistakes can be seen, such as lies, slander, evil, and taking advantage of a friend.
But a true friendship and true friends are those who understand all these mistakes and move forward, then only a good friendship becomes great.
10. In a True Friendship, We Build Long-Lasting Memories
In a strong friendship, we make many such memories which give us a different happy feeling. We feel the warmth of friendship by remembering those moments again and again.
The memories of your friendship could be from anywhere. It could be your school, college, hostel, gym, sports field or any other place.
In a true friendship, memories do not diminish, only memories are made. In a reliable friendship, you are always eager to create happy moments.
You always know the things to do with your best friend and how those special moments will turn into an indelible memory for you.
In a reliable friendship, you also take care of how to keep the moments spent by you and your friend personal and how to cherish those moments.
11. True Friendship Seems Like Married Life
Where there is love, there is conflict, and where there is conflict, there is a solution. And where you are with each other in happiness and sorrow.
Just as a married life of a person goes on, in the same way, a friendship also goes on.
Friendship also has its ups and downs, like marriage. Friends fight, and love happens, and efforts are made to stop or resolve the disputes.
In a true friendship, there’s disgruntlement and persuasion. The way we take care of our life partner, in the same way, the happiness of a friend is taken care of in friendship.
Like marriage, there is nothing formal with your spouse. Similarly, there is nothing artificial or misleading in a healthy, stable friendship.
I hope the above points have helped you understand what’s a friend for. And by learning from these you’ll make your friendship a true friendship. If you have any thoughts or views, please let me know in the comments.
Nathawat Brothers
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