Feel Good

Friendships.

If we want to be happy and feel good we must understand friendships. Friendships are vital for well-being. With a true friend we can be authentic and relaxed. We chose friends because we like each other for who we are. Friends are people we can be sincere with, who sympathize with our success and who involve their wisdom to help us. There are many definitions of a friend. Philosophers and writers always emphasize wisdom and altruism of friendship.As Aristotle said friendship can only arise indirectly, like happiness. It comes with living what we call a good life that includes personal values such as honesty, character and passion.

Friendships can be seen as gardening and growing plants from seeds. They need fertile soil, sunlight and watering, fertilization and weeding.Friends are involved in each other life. True friends can lose touch and pick up right where they left off. Friendship doesn’t wait for life to make everything better. Friends are equal in their relationships and none of them is put down or put on a pedestal.

Friendships take time to develop and they can’t be artificially created. It’s always good to remember when we create and maintain friendships:

• Friendship is a shared mutual choice not obligations and not unconditional arrangement

• A friend is someone who holds you in high regards

• Friendship is a priority of friends because it brings joy in life

• Friendship is a safe place where we can be authentic and share deepest thoughts and feelings with a person who keeps confidence

• Friends share generosity and constructive criticism without harming other person

• Friends choose words wisely not to hurt and they express points of view to reason their disagreement

• Friends are good listeners and they apologize for mistakes

• Friends are loyal and they don’t talk about each other negatively with others

• Friends know they can trust and watch each other’s back

All relationships experience ups and downs so friendships do. Conflicts are unavoidable and friends don’t let minor problems grow into big ones. Friends work on maintaining the relationship even when they disagree. They are willing to be uncomfortable and to work through a problem. It is healthy to overlook occasional misunderstandings and different opinions.

In no relationship more than in friendship it applies, “Treat the other person as you would like to be treated”. If you want to feel good forget about the false concept of friendship forever and no matter what. That fake belief can cause you heartache. If friendship brings you more pain than joy reconsider its quality.