What is friendship?

If you read my blog, you know I like definitions. I like to look up and see the written "official" meaning of things.

So what is friendship? I like what EzineArticles.com had to say:

Friendship is a personal relationship shared between each friend for the welfare of other, in other words, it is the relationship of trust, faith and concern for each other feelings. It is a relationship of mutual caring and intimacy among one another. A friend is one who knows you as a person and regards you for what you are and not what he or she is looking in a good friend. Best friend is one who accepts the good as well bad qualities of his friend and also takes an initiative in correcting and mending them. Friendship is a distinctive kind of concern for your friend, it is a relationship of immense faith and love for each other.

Friendship is all about how much you care and understand each other. It is a pure relationship, which would make your friend smile, feel good as to how much you love him and care for him. It is all about talking, listening and building up a strong relationship loyalty among each other. It is string of love which develops gradually with each others involvement. In certain cases friendship may not last for a longer period and might end up or lose its prime importance of love and regard for each other. There are some friendships which might end with unresolved conflicts and tiffs which means that these type of relationship were not so strong that could hold on their own in adversity and bad times. Friendship is not about merry-making and fun it involves equal loyalty from both the partners.

It should be understood that not all friends are best friends. One might come across numerous number of friends in his life but there are very few who will be their during your ups and down. How one should recognize your best friend the one who will understand your strengths and shortcomings and would be with you in all your good and bad phases of life.

A true friendship does not consist of a huge number of friends you keep but it is valued by its worth and capability to hold you and stand by you in all phases of life.That said finding a best friend from among your friends is the hardest task to do.A lot of people say that the best friends automatically come closer from among a group of friends and you will never have to make an extra effort to do find one. That is how the strong bond between true friends is formed. So best of luck in finding or recognizing a true friend!



2010 has been a weird year for me for friendships. I made amends with a long lost friend I never thought I'd see again. I made new friends. I got closer to existing friends. I lost a friend I never thought I'd lose. I got together with some of my oldest friends.

All of this got me thinking. About the complexities of friendship. The sensitivities of friendship. How hard they can be and how truly great they can be.

I went to dinner last saturday night with Jaime and Jason who I've known forever. We have stayed somewhat in contact over the years, but it's one of those things where you plan to get together, never do, and before you know it five years have gone by. Until we were all sitting in the same room together again, I'd almost forgotten just how much time we had once spent together. It all started coming back to all of us, things we hadn't thought about in years of some of the most fun and crazy times we've had. Friendships aren't always easy to maintain. The fact that these two have known me for many, many years and have been such a big part of my life for so long is very special to me. Long and true friendships are very rare.

Jaime & Jason


The same night after dinner, I went downtown where I met up with other friends. Suzanne I see much more often and have known for a very long time as well. She's another who is in a league of her own on the list of those near and dear to me. To see all three of them on the same night really did something for me over the weekend. I felt so happy, so content, so grateful to have people like this in my life. Maybe as I get older I value it more and realize just how lucky I am to have these people in my life and that they in turn truly care about and enjoy spending time with me. Very lucky.

Suzanne


In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
-Albert Schweitzer