Building Great Friendships

We all love having friends, but maintaining a good friendship is difficult business. Here is a look at giving your friendship a boost

Appreciate good qualities.
When we appreciate other people’s good qualities we strengthen them. When we appreciate their good qualities, we avoid feelings of jealousy, we help to make these qualities part of ourselves. Admiring the good attributes of others, is also one of the best ways to inspire our friends.


Attitude of forgiveness
When our friends do thing that are wrong, or cause unhappiness, the best thing to do is to maintain a forgiving attitude.

Here, forgiveness is not in a condescending manner; forgiveness of friends comes from a sense of oneness. If we can feel that this mistake is something that, we ourselves, could have done, then it will be real forgiveness.


Good communication
A Good friend is one who we can share the important events of life with. If we are able to share problems with our friends it will be a burden off our shoulders.

Sharing humour
If we can find time to enjoy life and share humour it will help to maintain a good friendship. Humour is one of the best antidote’s to the teeming problems of life.

Never speak ill of others
The nature of the human mind is to enjoy gossip, but when we speak of others bad qualities we will lose the trust of our friends. When we speak ill of others, we should feel we are actually criticising part of our extended self.

Here are some more tips on being a good friend

Be there for them when they need you, not when you need something from them. Good friends don’t call up people only to request a favour. While knowing people that can help you out is important, it’s equally important not to abuse the relationship.

1. Don’t wait for friends to call you. Make an effort to keep in touch with people. Everyone is busy, but if you want to maintain good friendships you should be proactive about communications. It doesn’t mean you have to sit on the phone for two hours a day, but it does mean you send an email, a card, or give them a quick call to let them know you’re thinking about them.

2. Respond to them in a timely manner. There’s nothing more frustrating than sending a friend an email or note, and having them ignore it because they are “too busy.” Everyone is busy. If someone is your friend, you make the effort to be kind to them.

3. Don’t be part of the gossip train. Bad mouthing people you call friends is one of the worst things you can do. Don’t be catty or talk about them behind their backs. Don’t hang out with someone just so you can go back to someone else and talk about your friend.

4. Be happy for them. It may sound ridiculous, but some folks just can’t be happy at their friend’s successes.

Don’t be someone that’s only in for complaining about life. When your friend hits it big celebrate with them. When they’re interviewing for a new job pull for them. When they want to find love be gracious and supportive when they find it. There is nothing better in the world than having people that support and care about you.