Life Tips Daily

Over on my personal blog, I have been known to gush about my wonderful friends. I am perhaps overthinking why I have such great friends, instead of being glad for them and hoping they don’t realize they have befriended someone who might not be worth it. Anyway, before they figure that out, I’ve come up with some habits of good friends and perhaps I can put one or two of these into practice sooner rather than later.

Looking for tips on being a better friend? Read on!

Communicate often
There are many ways to show you care, but arguably the most important way is to communicate it! There are a number of ways to do this: visiting, calling, sending emails, being sure to inquire about how your friend is doing when you see them or talk to them, asking them for a status report on something they have mentioned in passing in a previous conversation all let your friend know that you are thinking of them even after you hang up the phone or send the email. The value of continuous communication cannot be stressed too much. It may sometimes be hard to pick up the phone, especially when you’re going through things and wish it was your friend contacting you, but your good example just might rub off on your friend.

Be loyal
Nobody wants a friend who treats them like gold to their face, but spends all the time they are apart tearing them apart. If you find that you have more things you dislike about your friend than you like, perhaps this is not the friend for you. When others say something about your friend that you either view as untrue or know is untrue, you should feel the need to defend your friend’s good name, and show the strength of your friendship even if they are not around to witness it and they never hear about it. Good friends will stick up for each other when required.

Be supportive
You may not always agree with your friend’s ideas or decisions, and in a good friendship you should feel free to express this (respectfully, of course!) but this does not mean that you can’t show your support for your friend when things that you would not necessarily choose for yourself are happening or being chosen by your friend. For example, perhaps you wouldn’t date someone like they are planning to date but after you have expressed your concerns (and provided that there is no potential of physical or mental harm coming to your friend), it’s desirable to try to listen or express interest in this aspect of her life that you may not necessarily approve of.

Again, being supportive does not mean advocating harmful behaviours or encouraging a potentially dangerous situation, but rather recognizing that you’re individuals and respecting that individuality. So, a couch potato can still show up to cheer on a marathon-running friend, or a hater of country music can subject themself to a night at the concert of their country-loving friend’s favourite musical artist, right?

Practice these three tips and strengthen your friendships!