Like love, friend is a word sometimes used too easily.
Like love, friend is an absolute word. It needs no epithets. Someone is either your friend or not. It is a person with whom you feel a soul and intellectual connection, with whom you have things and values in common, with whom you are yourself without fear of rejection or judgment. Like love, friend is a word sometimes used too easily. No wonder we get sad afterwards when a person we consider a friend disappoints us. Here are five things friends never do:
Friends don’t want to take your place or something that belongs to you
On the contrary, they are happy for you, for who you are and your achievements. They support you to be the best version of yourself, unconditionally.
Friends don’t make you feel bad at every meeting
A person who constantly criticizes you and tries to clip your wings, making you doubt your dreams, is not a true friend. The same goes for a person who constantly has something to reproach you for and who forgets to thank you or acknowledge the good things you do or bring into their life. Not to mention those who like to make you feel guilty when you are happy or successful.
Friends make time for you
This doesn’t mean that you spend every moment together but that you make time to talk and see each other, to support each other when necessary. A true friend is always there for you with their heart, even if they are not physically present. A true friend doesn’t set up a meeting with you only to postpone it forever because they have other more important things to do.
Friends are not afraid to talk to you openly.
A true friend won’t be afraid to open up and tell you how they feel. They will tell you the truth, even if it can sometimes be unpleasant, but in a loving way that doesn’t hurt you.
Friends don’t get in your head
They don’t use you as a punching bag on which to dump their frustrations and emotional problems. Own their feelings and feelings and don’t blame you for their problems.
Having clarity about what friendship means to you empowers you to have a real conversation if something feels wrong in one of your relationships. Only then can you find out if you’re still together, despite any inevitable ups and downs, or understand that you never really were.