Characteristics of Friendship

Many people can say they have a large group of friends. However, it is very likely that you do not have true friendships with all of those friends. True friendships take work and time to form. Building true friendships require an equal amount of give and take from both parties. When they are established, true friendships are enduring. You will be able to lean to this friend for unconditional love, support and more.

KEY POINTS

• Essential friendship traits fall into three general categories, each representing a critical aspect of relational behavior.

• Everyone brings a different level of the 13 essential traits to their relationships.

• Trustworthiness is often the “make or break” element in any interpersonal relationship.

• There’s a friend in mind as I write this. She’s more sister than friend. She’s more family than my blood siblings.

• How I lucked onto such an amazing human being is beyond me, but I did, and it’s wonderful.

• Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful we travel the cosmos together via this big, varied Earth.

• This connection wasn’t simply pulled from the ether, nor does it maintain itself by sparkles and rainbows.

• There are certain qualities that must be shared in order to form the bonds of good and true friendship.

Some people have an easier time establishing and maintaining friendships than others. And some of us long for closer friendships or try to figure out why an existing or promising relationship fizzled out. In these cases, we may jump first to judge a friend’s behavior, rather than our own. Perhaps we forget that relationships rely on mutual interactions. It is important, them, to examine our own contribution to the dynamics of a friendship. It is only our own behavior that we can change, and there are certain personal characteristics it's essential to cultivate to build healthy, lasting friendships.