How To Be A Good Friend--Alessandro Seminario

To me, friendship isn’t necessarily hard, however to have a good friend takes a little more. I can’t say i’m a professional at this nor do I think I am the best type of friend to be making this list. However, now that I have been put into a situation in which I will be moving away from a lot of my current friends to a new start, I think it’s important to note and share some general qualities I have observed from my few but great friends I’ve made, past or present. These are also qualities I hope to continue to improve on as I too stretch myself out to different people and the endless possibilities in making good quality relationships.
1) Loyalty
This couldn’t be more obvious, and we all have different types of loyalty and different levels of them. In my opinion, a friends loyalty is based on the simple fact of just being there and earnestly wanting to be there for your benefit. Constantly knowing you have someone who isn’t family and makes a choice to be there for you is an unmatched feeling. A friend that can provide that type of comfort no matter what you do or go through is a friend you should keep. The constant reassurance of an outsiders compassion and dedication to what one needs won’t be overlooked or dismissed by anyone.
2) Honesty
No one likes truth, we hate it.. A good friend won’t care. If you need to be told something because you’re too stupid to see it yourself, they’ll tell you, you can rely on that. Obviously a lot of people are more sensitive than others and a lot of people don’t take what they need to hear well, I guess thats what will truly test your friendship and your own loyalty to them. Keeping a perspective on what you need will be provided by this friend granted they know you well enough to say what it is, and the advice or simple truth given is what you need. Through anything difficult it’s easy to get in one’s own head and only make matters worse, improve your life and surround yourself with people that can help see what you wont like but may end up helping what you thought was helpless.
3) Creativity
A fun friend is the best friend. I think I’ve found this trait to be the most beneficial to me and really anyone in general. Being creative in any aspect is only meant to bring you new, exciting, and overall good times. Whether this friend is creative in jokes, art, ideas, craft, planning, etc. all of these provide an open mind. Having an open mind that allows you to experience or try new things wont hurt in any way, a lot of us are challenged in that aspect and It’s easy to say that pairing yourself with people that expand your mind is what really brings happiness. Whether that rubs off on you or not, the presence of a mind always ready to bring new fresh things to you can only help growth while introducing aspects of the world and anything else that can use creativity.

Though general, it is in your best interest to search for people that have these qualities, not anyone can just be someone you hold high in your life and its important to be particular in what you need and what you want in someone that is supposed to be there for you. Hopefully reciprocated, these traits are (in my opinion) guaranteed to provide the highest quality friendships that you can unapologetically look back on and see how far you’ve come because of that person.