Friends are like assets in our life, they can't really be called basic needs but the naked truth is that without them life becomes somewhat boring and tasteless. See, life is all about how you make it, and so you can decide to have more friends (assets) or just a few. You can decide to be rich with assets (friend) or to be poor.
The reason I call them assets is because, other than financial gain there are plenty of lessons we get from friends. When a friend fails, you grasp a lesson, when he/she achieve something you also learn. In simple terms, friends are valuables in our lives. In fact there are important experiences that can only be acquired from the friends in our life.
Practically speaking, if you want to measure the maturity level of someone you can do it by seeing how well he/she earns and maintains friendships. This refers to all kinds of friendships. You can make friends with your teacher, parent, children, spouse, pastor or anybody and this can make your life happier and simpler.
You can tell the extend to which a married couple has matured by their level of friendship and closeness. A mature couple displays friendliness while together and also while with other people. Same case, friendlier people are simply more mature as they have a sense of wanting to uphold the relationship.
So how can you earn and maintain real friends;
1.Be friendly yourself
Being friendly simply means you have to show some readiness to accept someone to be part of your life. Always be keen at first impressions. Yes, you must wear a nice and welcoming face so as to secure attention from your target. Smile and be gentle since its just the beginning of things. Now after you've to talked and you realize there is future in that encounter, prepare to take it to the next level.
2.Give out Exams
Yap, that's exactly what I mean. You ought to test your new friends to avoid future disappointments. Set things up to exactly know what you can expect from him/her. This doesn't have to be a weighing scale to suggest whether the friendship will go on or not, it's just a scale to let you know what to expect from the friend and how to treat them in different circumstances. For instance a person might be good in other areas but fail when it comes to keeping secretes.
Or he/she could be okay in other areas but prone to getting angry often and fast. You have to study the people around you so as to understand how you can always maintain a peaceful environment.
3.Expect to see negatives just as positives
We often fail and break friendships because of wrong expectations. We want and expect people to always do what pleases our hearts. This is not healthy, you ought to always be ready for anything from humans, whether good or bad. However, it's good to always consider the relationship more than the wrongs and what you want in the friendship.
4.Accept human nature
And finally accept that man is to error and the fact that we must live with humans. No short cut! Be friendlier by forging and apologizing when needed to.
Labels: Personal Development