Have you ever wondered why friends come and go in our lives? Some can last a life time and some we look back upon as being a part of phase in our lives.
But as much as we think about having friends, I don’t think we stop to wonder what kind of friend we are to other people.
What really makes you an awesome friend?
I was having this conversation with Bell just the other day. She and a friend had a disagreement and she wasn’t sure if the friendship was going to last. It was one of those real mom and daughter moments.
There are 3 things I think that are really important in friendships, and to be an awesome friend takes a lot of respect and love for the other person.
An awesome friend has to have time, patience, and perseverance.
Not really the three things you may have been thinking, right?
Let’s start with TIME.
When we are kids, it seems like we have all the time in the world. We go and hang out with our friends and we have no worries beyond homework and a few house chores. (let’s assume for a moment).
But as we become adults, time is as precious as the friendships we hold dear. We have responsibilities obligations, and time just slips away from us. We become too busy to call, hang out, or help a friend. Or do we?
If you want to be an awesome friend, you have to first make time for your friends. It may mean scheduling play dates, a monthly breakfast, a weekly coffee outing, or movie night. And every once in a while, it means canceling something else to be there when your friend needs you most.
And PATIENCE…
Not a word many of us like.
I don’t know about any of you, but it seems the older I get the more patience I have started to learn to acquire.
Now, if you’re my five year old. Patience usually last less than ten minutes. If they want something, they want it now. Like seeing a friend or calling a friend because being with them all day wasn’t enough time.
Older now, we understand things happen. Appointments and get together get rescheduled and we wait till the next time we can talk or be together. That’s what friends do, they hang around and wait on each other. (not like a servant… remember patience).
When you’ve got time and patience it is always a good idea to remain persistent
PERSISTENT, you ask?
Being an awesome friends a lot of times means staying in the saddle with the friendship experiences some rears and kicks. An awesome friend doesn’t walk away when things are tough. When you’re an awesome friend, it doesn’t always mean you have an awesome friendship. Like any other relationship in your life, you must work at keeping that relationship an awesome one.
So to persist is to not give up.
It also means to remain supportive. You may need to listen, to lend your favorite bracelet, or make a bowl of hot soup on rainy days.
There will come a day when Bell will understand why or why not she and her friend went through this phase in their friendship. After all, they’re only middle graders who have so much more to learn about awesome friendships.
Do you think these three things are important to being an awesome friend? or is there some other ingredient that I may have missed?
