What Makes A Good Friend?



Posted: Sunday, January 13, 2008

by
Stuttering therapy

Which qualities would you expect a friend to have? Would you consider yourself to be a good friend? What constitutes a good friend? My name is Stephen Hill from Birmingham in the UK . I am now thirty-four years of age and it seems that the older I become the less true friends I actually have. Why is this? Is it because I am becoming less popular or is it because I am expecting more as I mature? In this article I will be attempting to answer some of these questions.

I expect a good friend to be somebody who I can depend on one hundred percent; if I tell them a secret or some personal information I would not then expect them to spread this, in the form of gossip, to other people.

If I were in trouble I would expect to be able to seek help from a friend, mainly for advice and guidance but also for other types of help, for example a roof over my head.

A good friend is someone who is kind to me and does not try to hurt me in any way. They do not let me down by promising something and then failing to deliver. As an example to this is a friend who agrees to meet you somewhere and does not then turn up.

A good friend does not try and steal your girlfriend/boyfriend from you, quite the opposite in fact, they will be totally trustworthy in every respect.

As I have become older I have become quite harsh I suppose. I think that I am a good friend to other people and I set myself quite high standards in this regard. When I do not receive the same in return, I then start to become disillusioned with my so called friends. When I was younger I think that I let certain friends get away with things, it was like I was just grateful to have them as a friend. At this stage of my life I though it was important to have a lot of friends, nowadays I believe that quality rather than quantity is the way to go.

I hope that the people who read this article will realise what is required to become a good friend and that they can learn from it.

Stephen Hill helps to promote a number of websites including:

http://www.stammering-stuttering.co.uk

http://www.stutter-cure.com

http://www.coach-life-london.co.uk

This Article has been viewed 2,450 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Anonymous 3 years 148 days ago.
Wow Steve amazing article. I also am a good friend to others. I have high standards for myself and expect the same from others, however these high standards are sadly far beyond almost all of the friends I currently have.
 
Disillusionment does occur a lot. I am also 34 and I'm starting to make friends with people in their 60's, not through effort, but rather I'm attracting much older people as friends. People my own age are so immature, which sounds like I'm a teenage saying this, but sadly yes some people aren't even mature or evolved at 34.
 
This is the problem with therapy... you may well evolve past your friends. I know this sounds arrogant but it is sadly true. You will often leave a lot of people behind... especially it seems in person-centred therapy for some reason.
» left by Elfreda Eriksen
 2 years 66 days ago.
10 fans.
Steve,
 
A great article. I totally agree with you on so many points. I think real friendship is to be treasured.
 
Elfreda
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