Friendship

What does a FRIEND mean to you?

These are my definitions of a ‘friend’:

• A friend will share and support your passions, as well as your ups and downs.
• A friend is the one that will prop you up when you are really down and can’t see a way out.
• A friend is there to empower you and not judge you; a friend really appreciates WHO you are and not what they expect you to be.
• A friend will just pick up a phone and ask “how are you” and really mean it.
• Most of all, a friend is someone that will encourage you to be the best you can be and what you are meant to be, and they will have no hesitation to say so!

A very simple question…but it requires you to think about it. Let’s do a simple exercise, ask yourself these questions:

• WHO are the people that you would like to include in your life? i.e. Is it people sharing the same values as you do?
• WHO are the people that truly have your best interest at heart?
• WHO are the people that have no hesitation to tell you what you NEED to hear, and not what you’d like to hear.

Will your friends from 20 years ago still be your friends today? Of course! My very good friends are still the people I came to know through uni, more than 20 years ago, plus a quite a few friends that I got to know when my children started Kindergarten. In fact, a few of my friends are my “on call” editors. When my editor is away or I needed a document/article edited immediately, I will give them a call and my article will be forwarded back to me within a few hours (normally they will work during their lunch break).

Why are we still friends today? Mostly…

• We share the same values.
• We have shared the same goals together (and a similar journey).
• We are genuinely supportive of each other’s well being.
• We make an effort to keep in touch as often as possible, despite the distance.

So what does a friend mean to you? Would love to hear your thoughts on this  – and what else can you add to the points above?

Next article – As parents, do we have a say in your children’s friends? What do you think?

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