It is surprisingly true that many teenagers, including adults do not know what friendship truely is, what is expected from friendship and what a friend should be like.
Who is your friend?
This wholly depends on the situation at hand.
The American english dictionary defines a friend as
A person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
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Friendship itself is the mutual and cordial relationship between two or more persons with the aim of promoting and consolidating their socio-economic, political and spiritual live.
It is never mandatory but voluntary. Many think of it to be a kind of love which has definitely made the exact definition of it difficult.
Sometimes I get crazy when acquaintances claim being your friend and demand the loyalty, trust and respect that come from friendship.
A true friend could be the first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out from you or one who can make you outdo yourself.
A true friend could be that person who doubles your possibilities, adds his strenght to yours, and makes almost impossible tasks to be possible to you.
My Friend, My Motivator.
Many people have been brought to a higher position by some good friends while some have been brought low and others taken to their graves. But a real friend is a treasure. He does not betray the trust and secret confided in him by his friend. He inspires you to think the higher thought, do the helpful deed which would not have materialized without him.
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He should have your back intime of crises, pain, poverty, sickness, depression and distress.
Some of the acquaintances or even strangers we call friends today will only come to you when they have problem and they think you are in a better position to help them out, that's parasitism not friendship.
Dependability
Birds of the same feather flock together as the saying goes. A good friend is that person who has the same interests and opinions as yourself. He believes in you and has his trustand confidence in you whichhe expects you to reciprocate.
He trust your judgement.
He overlooks you weaknesses, appreciates your successes and predicaments, and helps to build up instead of destroying your self confidence. He is dependable and ever ready to carry your cross.
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A true friend is a stimulator, inspirer and a joy giver. He brings you to the realiztion of the strenght and possibilities that lie dormant within you and inspires you to do the things you never thought is achievable.
True friends are like mirrors
As the saying goes
Show me your friend and I'll tell you who you are.
A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
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When you look at a real friend, you will be expected to find some similarities that will make you feel a kind of affinity and oneness with him. Such similarities as common interest, tastes, attractions and ideologies will be evident in the friend.
Two is better than one. Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. There are different kind of friends you will come across as you journey in life. These friends will influence you differently. Every person in the world has had one experience or the other different from ours and can tell us something helpful.
Richard Templar said
You can't be a poppy in a foeld of thistles, a rose among thorns; you will turn into thistles and thorns yourself.
So you cannot pretend that you are different and cannot be influenced. So choose your friends wisely.