Friends and Friendship

"Among Life's precious jewels, genuine and rare, the one that we call friendship has worth beyond compare." Friendship is a unique and strange bond...we find ourselves telling each other the deepest details of our lives, things we don't even share with our families who raised us. But what is a friend? A confidant? A lover? A fellow email junkie? A shoulder to cry on? An ear to listen? A heart to feel?...A friend is all these things...and more.

Friends are those people who know you better than anyone, sometimes better than you know yourself. They are not only essential for coping with day-to-day frustrations or sharing private jokes, they help you limp through a crisis and, in the long run, help you grow. Friends not only say much about who you are and where you are in your life, but your friends also shape the person you become.

Some friendships grow and show themselves in time but sometimes, when you least expect it, you can identify a soul mate in a flash. Without explanation, you understand each other, as if you have known each other before you met.

We frequently don’t clearly understand how we make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a few. Initially much depends on how people understand each other and on favourable first impressions. As we get to know people we take into account things like age, race, physical attractiveness, economic and social status and intelligence. Although these factors are not of prime importance, it is more difficult to relate to people when there is a marked difference in age and background.

What is the common characteristic that distinguishes your closest best friends from your acquaintances? The answer seems to be in part that they mirror who you are. It can be exciting to find someone similar to yourself. You feel as if you’ve found a long-lost friend even though you’ve just met.

Friends will stay closer together and will spend more time looking at each other than more acquaintances. Smiles and soft voices also express friendliness, and it is because they may transmit the wrong signals, people often have difficulty in making friends. A friendly look with the wrong facial expression can turn into an aggressive stare and nervousness may be misread as hostility.

Friendship can continue to evolve, adapting through changes in you life. And, certainly, you honor these adaptive friends in various ways over a lifetime.

Like all young people I like to have friends around me because they make life more interesting and enjoyable. I have a few friends whose company I enjoy. We spend a lot of time together doing various sports, discussing our favourite books and films or listening to music. My best friend is Maxim. I have known him for over five years. He is a good-looking young man with thick dark hair, blue eyes and an attractive smile. But of course his personality maters to me more than his appearance. He is a true friend who has never let me down. I trust him and I know that I can always depend on him. It’s nice to have a friend who shares in all your troubles and joys. He has a wonderful sense of humor and it’s always fun to be in his company. Besides, he is intelligent, hardworking and well-organized. We have much in common. We like the same music and enjoy the same sports. We may disagree on some points and our tastes in films and views are sometimes different, but we never quarrel. Maxim is tolerant and never presses his opinion and views on others. He is a good listener and always lets his opponent speak his mind. Surely he is not an angel and has his drawbacks. He can be stubborn and hot-tempered at times but this doesn’t affect our relations in the least. I am proud of my friend and I’ll try to keep our friendship as long as I can.

Some reserved and shy people find making friends rather difficult. Besides, friendship means rendering a service to your friend from time to time, telling the truth and exhibiting loyalty. It takes time and effort, but true friendship is worth of it. It is stressful to live in the world of strangers, that’s why people need friends. They give us a sense of being protected, emotional comfort and moral support. Having no friends can be emotionally damaging in some cases. As the proverb says: “A true friend is the best possession.”

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 921