Three Tips to Make Stronger Friendships
Note: I'm very busy with Christmas stuff, school, church, and a million other things. Even NaNoWriMo has gotten pushed to the sideline. So this will be a quick, last-minute blog post. Hopefully I can have something a little more substantial for you next week!
Okay, everyone, I am completely straying from my usual writing-based posts, and tackling a completely unrelated topic: friendships.
Now, if you didn't already know this, friendships are very important. Very important. I'm a very social person, and I really need to have relationships with people I enjoy and get along with.
The tips I am about to give are not for how to make new friends. These tips should be used once you know the person a little bit, but aren't close in any way.
1. Be open, be honest, be vulnerable. In relationships, honesty is SO IMPORTANT. Be vulnerable to your friends, let them see your faults and your weaknesses. Because it's actually strong of you to show that. When people see you being honest about the things that you don't tell just anyone, it shows them a lot of things. They feel you trust them, perhaps more than anybody else. Perhaps they even feel inspired by your problems, and maybe even will want to tell you their problems. This mutual sharing of personal mistakes helps make a strong bond of trust and care for each other, which can completely change many relationships.
It's happened to me, several times. In fact, I've told a small handful of people about some of my mistakes, big or small, and it has only ever improved my relationship with them.
2. Don't be afraid to cross genders. I'm going to be completely honest with you...apart from relatives, all of my close friends are girls. Now, I didn't choose for that to happen, I would love to have lots of guy friends too. But the way my life has worked out, I haven't been able to meet that many guys my age that have been interested in becoming friends with me.
The point is, when I go to events with a mixed group of teenagers, I see the guys talking on one side of the room and the girls on the other side. And I'm that guy who is like hopping between groups, trying to talk to everyone at once lol. Anyway, my point is...guys, girls make excellent and loyal friends, trust me. And girls, all guys aren't as bad as you make them out to be. So give them a chance and make some more friends!
I'm not saying you have to be friends with every girl or every guy. But you can't rule out somebody just because they're a different gender than you!
3. Talk often. I have many text conversations with my closest friends every single day. Don't spam people with lots of messages right away, and don't always be the one texting first. But talking frequently is a great idea to strengthen friendships.
Okay, everyone, I am completely straying from my usual writing-based posts, and tackling a completely unrelated topic: friendships.
Now, if you didn't already know this, friendships are very important. Very important. I'm a very social person, and I really need to have relationships with people I enjoy and get along with.
The tips I am about to give are not for how to make new friends. These tips should be used once you know the person a little bit, but aren't close in any way.
1. Be open, be honest, be vulnerable. In relationships, honesty is SO IMPORTANT. Be vulnerable to your friends, let them see your faults and your weaknesses. Because it's actually strong of you to show that. When people see you being honest about the things that you don't tell just anyone, it shows them a lot of things. They feel you trust them, perhaps more than anybody else. Perhaps they even feel inspired by your problems, and maybe even will want to tell you their problems. This mutual sharing of personal mistakes helps make a strong bond of trust and care for each other, which can completely change many relationships.
It's happened to me, several times. In fact, I've told a small handful of people about some of my mistakes, big or small, and it has only ever improved my relationship with them.
2. Don't be afraid to cross genders. I'm going to be completely honest with you...apart from relatives, all of my close friends are girls. Now, I didn't choose for that to happen, I would love to have lots of guy friends too. But the way my life has worked out, I haven't been able to meet that many guys my age that have been interested in becoming friends with me.
The point is, when I go to events with a mixed group of teenagers, I see the guys talking on one side of the room and the girls on the other side. And I'm that guy who is like hopping between groups, trying to talk to everyone at once lol. Anyway, my point is...guys, girls make excellent and loyal friends, trust me. And girls, all guys aren't as bad as you make them out to be. So give them a chance and make some more friends!
I'm not saying you have to be friends with every girl or every guy. But you can't rule out somebody just because they're a different gender than you!
3. Talk often. I have many text conversations with my closest friends every single day. Don't spam people with lots of messages right away, and don't always be the one texting first. But talking frequently is a great idea to strengthen friendships.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, that's all I got this week! Sorry for such a short post, but I hope you found something helpful here! I will be back next week. :D
Hey I really liked this post! Thanks for those great tips! Friendship is something that is very important to me as well. I think it gets harder to keep friendships after you graduate because a lot of times you get a job or go off to college and don't get to see your friends as often. I'll have to use these tips to help me! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Ashley! Thank you!! :D
DeleteNice post dude. Those are some great points for growing friendships!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) Glad you liked it.
DeleteShort posts are fine! And I like when blogs stray from the main topic sometimes - and a lot of writers are introverts, so these tips are helpful.
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, that's what I thought. Thanks! :)
DeleteI enjoyed this post a lot. :) Even a social person like me can learn more about making friends. Believe it or not, #2 is the hardest one for me. (Well, that and going up to complete strangers to introduce myself...but who likes doing that??) But having five brothers to interact with 24/7 helps. ;) If I can get along with THEM, I can get along with any guy. :P Thanks again for the helpful post. Good luck with NaNo! (It's almost done! Eep!)
ReplyDeleteHaha, no I understand! Oh wow, five brothers...one is enough for me. ;) Thank you for the encouragement!! :D
DeleteThis is great but what if you can't find people with similar interests with you in real life. That's why I can't make friends! I just really want to make at least two friends in real life.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know it's hard...I live in the middle of nowhere and never see my irl friends very often. But online friends are the next best thing! :)
DeleteYeah, they are ^^
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