The Foundation of Lasting Friendships: Basic Qualities that Keep My Friendships Going

Friendships are a vital parts of our lives, friendship is not about having random friends but being able to set up a lasting relationship with someone you call your friend. Building long lasting relationships with friends requires so much, it requires our time, effort, attention, nurturing and care. Have made and broken so many friendships right from childhood that most times I felt I would never have any friend around me. While making and mending my friendships I discovered so many qualities that kept my friendships going. The basic qualities that has helped me build long lasting relationships are:

**1.Effective Communication: **Yes! This is very paramount and vital if you want your relationship to keep going. The moment communication ceases it is no longer friendship, our friends are supposed to be people we can freely communicate and express how we truly feel to them without feeling any form of guilt or uneasiness.

I remember how I almost loose a friend because we could not communicate effectively, things were going just fine between us and one day I felt she acted strange towards me , I felt she was giving me attitude and I could not ask her why she acted the way she did , I went ahead to act the same way and boom! We kept mute with each other. My elder sister had to intervene by asking her what happened,

I finally discovered that she equally assumed that I was giving her attitude just like I also assumed, but thank God we sorted it out. Since then I realized that all relationships works when there is an effective communication, having a heart to heart communication with, my friends help to strengthen the bond and connection we have.

2. Active Listening and Understanding: whenever my friends gives me attention and takes time to hear and understand my perspective I feel valued and respected. I love when my friends try to understand me a listening ear because they are the ones I could freely express myself to.

3.Trust: this is another crucial quality I love in my friends, I cannot make you my friend if I do not trust you, of what use is friendship without trust, though I find it hard to trust so easily but I have learnt to build trust with time. I know what my friends can do and they equally know what I am capable of doing.

4.Empathy and Compassion: Empathy is about sharing the feelings of your friends, putting yourself in your friend
s shoes and learning to feel and understand what they are really going through, this is another quality we have as friends, over time I discovered that most times I feel so sad whenever my friends are going through challenging situations, we understand and support each other through the storm and fair weather, and that is what has kept us united and bonded for these years.

5.Respect :As friends, we respect and honour each others opinion, views, beliefs and choices, in as much as I could share my opinions with her I also honour and respect her decisions and choices .

6.Personal Growth and Support: As friends if we can’t add value to each other we can’t grow, friends are meant to love and support one another at all times. Personally if I make friends and we can’t add value to ourselves, the relationship will not work out.
These are the few qualities and core values that keeps my friendship going.

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This post is in response to the June inleo daily prompt

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