In my opinion, friends are undoubtedly important, and the feeling of being alone is, in most situations, one of the worst feelings possible. I currently have the strongest, most meaningful friendships I’ve had in my life so far, and they have shown me that there are several key factors of strong, lasting friendships.
Firstly, mutual support is integral to a strong friendship. It’s important to support your friend through difficulties in their life as well as in their pursuit of personal goals and interests whether you do or do not share those goals and interests. With interests you don’t share, it’s important to remain respectful of your friend’s interests and to not make your friend feel as if they can’t talk to you about those interests because you’ll act bored or uninterested. With interests and goals you do share, it may be easy for your relationship with your friend to become competitive, and I think that although this is not necessarily unhealthy, there’s a fine line between competitiveness and jealousy. Acting jealous of your friend is an easy way to damage a friendship; it’s crucial to be able to be happy for your friend when they’re getting things you want for yourself.
Another important aspect of friendship is communication. Being able to be open and honest with your friend during conflicts is important to conflict resolution as well as to the overall health of the friendship. Sometimes, people are afraid to confront their friends about issues as they’re worried about their friends getting mad at them or not understanding, but it’s important to be able to communicate about problems. Also, a friend shouldn’t make you feel like you can’t talk to them about something.
Additionally, mutual respect is needed in a healthy friendship. Condescension and/or feelings of superiority may develop easily in friendships in which the two people have drastically different personalities, and it’s important to learn to respect your friend as a person and to eliminate any patronizing actions or feelings that might come instinctively. Respect in a friendship also means that both parties’ opinions and wishes are valued equally and that neither person’s wants are constantly prioritized above the other’s.
Lastly, basic human kindness must be present in a friendship. While insulting jokes are often made in friendships, it’s important to be aware of how far you can go before your friend feels genuinely hurt or offended by your remarks. Another example of staying kind in a friendship is avoiding embarrassing your friend or painting your friend in a negative light to others. All of these points may seem obvious, but it’s important to be aware of them and to hold yourself and your friends accountable to them.
