Have a cup of coffee, sit down on your favorite chair and think. Think of the people that have inhabited your life. Think of the many people that you have interacted with and those whom you call friends. Not those that you have exchanged Facebook accounts with, or those that you work with. Real friends.
A research published in PLOS Journal has shown a startling result that only about half of perceived friendships are mutual. That is to say, there are only half in your friend list might include you in their own list!
So what exactly is friendship?
Friendship is a relationship where two or more people care about each other. But then again, such a definition do no justice to the notion of friendship. It is really difficult to describe friendship, but easy to just define what isn’t.
Giving opens the way for Receiving.
But regardless of any research findings, the appropriate approach to enjoying genuine friendships is to be the person who gives before you expect to receive. In fact, real friends give without the expectation of ever receiving. It’s just that simple.
People sometimes are too eager to maximize the efficiency of relationships that they have lost touch of what it is truly to be a friend. The key is to have a few really good friends and then plenty of people who share common interests and are fun to hang around with.
Nurturing the most important relationships in your life demands time and effort, and it requires that people put somebody other than themselves first sometimes. But in return, a true friend can provide immense solace in good times and in bad.
