Friendship

A friendship is a relationship based on mutual trust, acceptance, and common interests or values. People look to their friends for honest reactions, encouragement during bad times, and understanding when they make mistakes. Friends offer a sense of belonging. They are a handy reminder that there are other people who understand and care about you. Some friendships are casual, and some are close. Some are with friends of the opposite sex.

 Casual friends: they offer the chance to have fun, to try new things, and to learn to get along with a variety of people. These friendships may remain casual, or they may develop into deeper, long-lasting friendships over time.

 Close friends: people tend to form close relationships with others who share similar goals, values, or interests. Most people agree on four qualities that are important in a close friend:

 Loyalty: a close friend sticks by your side in good and bad times.

 Honesty: you can trust a friend to be truthful, even when the truth is painful.

 Empathy: a close friend is sensitive and caring about your feelings.

 Reliability: a close friend can always be counted on. You know your friend will try hard not to let you down.

 Friends of the opposite sex: they develop more often now than in earlier generations because of gender roles. Gender roles are the behaviors and attitudes that are socially accepted as either masculine or feminine. A friendship with the opposite sex may develop into a romantic relationship. Often, it does not.

Problems in Friendships

For the relationships to last it is important that friends face any problems that arise and work together to resolve them.

 Envy and jealousy: Envy can occur when one person has something that the other person desires. Through active listening, you can gain a better understanding of your friendship and of ways to work things out.

 Cruelty: sometimes a friend may act cruelly toward you even though you have done nothing to anger your friend. Confront your friend to find out what the real problem is.

 Cliques: being a member of a clique can give a person a sense of belonging, but it also can deprive a person of forming friendships with a variety of people.

I think friendships are really important in our lives (at least in mine) and friends are something that should be taken really carefully. It’s a give-and-take relationship that has to give a good product. If not, then it’s not a real friendship. People involved in friendships have to know how to act and what things to say, what things not to say, and most importantly, HOW to say them.

Connect to your life

 Are you comfortable having close friendships with both males and females? Why or why not?

I’m really comfortable having female friendships because that’s how it has been all my life. But with male friendships, it’s really hard for me, because when I was in elementary school , boys always told me things like how fat

...