These days is hard to find those extra-special confidants who truly understand the wildest and undiscovered depths of our heart.
The people we call our best friends. With the current trends of having thousands of “friends” on social media, those once-in-a-lifetime friendships, built on trust and respect seem to reduce to just a few, real ones.
We find it easy to connect online with a person who shares the same interests and hobbies as we do, but can we really refer to them as a friend? Is that really all that matters in a friendship?
The truth is, friendships aren’t only pink skies and rainbows. A true friendship consists of unconditional love, a lot of compromises, the pure will to be happy for their happiness, and the empathy for their greatest sorrow as if it was your own. It’s being there beside them, no matter how hard it is.
So, as Marcel Proust once said, “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Let us indeed be grateful and praise the people who would do everything of the following to assure us that genuine friendships still exist:
1. A REAL FRIEND WILL ACCEPT AND LOVE ALL OF YOU, EVEN YOUR FLAWS
A true, genuine friend is someone who spends their lifetime beside you. They’ve seen every darkest bit of your soul, every happiness, and every sorrow, yet they never left.
Because a real friend would never try to change your nature, but rather they would embrace everything about you. All the way from your weirdest quirks to your greatest traits.
2. THEY WILL MAKE THE FRIENDSHIP A PRIORITY
Work, kids, marriages, time definitely goes by. And the older we get, the more unavailable we become. However, a real friendship will never surrender to this fast-paced and chaotic life we live in.
A true friend will never forget the bond you two have. They’ll make sure to nurture it for many years to come.
3. THEY WILL BE HAPPY FOR YOUR HAPPINESS
Fake friends will feel jealous and intimidated by your achievements, but real friends will celebrate every accomplishment in your life. It’s really easy to spot the people who wish nothing but the best for you and stick around on every bright, as well as dark day.
Some people will desperately try to put you down, but genuine friends will feel your happiness as if it was their own. And that’s why we love them.
4. YOU FEEL THE MOST COMFORTABLE AROUND THEM
They are the ones who know your deepest secrets and dirtiest dreams because you’ve trusted them with your heart. And a pinky promise isn’t something you recklessly break.
You’ve spent so much together, shared so much childhood memories and embarrassing stories, that you feel absolutely comfortable to be your true, weirdest self around them.
5. YOU RESPECT EACH OTHER’S POINTS OF VIEW
You are aware that the most important virtue that makes a friendship, genuine and real is respect. So, even though you’re practically like family, you have no problem with your different perspectives on life, because you respect each other. What you two have is more important than anything else.
After all, every person on Earth has their own set of values and preferences, so it is only natural to be different and possess not so common opinions on certain subjects.
6. THEY’LL LISTEN TO EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY
How many times have you tried to maintain a conversation with someone, only for that person to make the subject all about themselves?
Well, you can be rest assured that with the bestest of friends, you won’t experience such rude feedback.
Because a real friend would always listen to everything that bothers you, even if you’re constantly annoying them with the same story about your ex-boyfriend.
Just, try not to overexaggerate, because they have a life too, you know?
7. THEY’RE THE PEOPLE WHO’LL ALWAYS HAVE OUR BACKS
A genuine friendship is different from any other relationship you’ll have in your life. A genuine and loving relationship will prove you that unconditional care and compassion truly exist. It’s in those special individuals that are rarest to find.
In those special people who’ll make sure to have your back through thick and thin. In those warm people who’ll be there to lend a helping hand when you’re “knee deep in mud.”
8. THEY’LL TELL YOU THE COLD-HEARTED TRUTH, EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT
The best thing about real friendships is the possibility to say everything you really mean to their face. It’s being brave and free to tell them like it is even it’s hurtful, and even if they wouldn’t want to hear the awful truth.
And no, you wouldn’t say those hurtful truths, to harm them. On the contrary, a real friend will be sincere to the point of blunt, just so they could defend and protect us from possible heartbreaks.
9. THEY’LL SUPPORT EVERY DREAM WE HAVE
And no matter how foolish some dream might seem to them, they’ll make sure to support everything your heart desires.
Because a true friendship means understanding each other’s goals and respecting each other’s diversity through a constant motivation and unreserved love.
10. YOU UNCONDITIONALLY TRUST EACH OTHER
One of the most fundamental aspects of every relationship. Trust. A true friendship is based on trust and mutual understanding.
There are numerous levels of trust in relationships. So, if you have a person in your life who passed all of them and swore to take all of your secrets to their grave, you are a truly blessed.
11. THEY WILL ALWAYS MEET YOU HALFWAY
And most of all, there will never be any chase. You won’t have to call them or text them every time because they are here. They’re always here and they put an equal effort into the relationship.
They don’t only speak to you when it’s convenient, but they reach out to you because they really care about you as a friend.
