Friendship is one of the most important supports that we can have in our life, friends are the family we choose and our life partners. But above all, friendship is the highest representation of love, since the family is inherited and relationships require exclusivity and while in all other representations of love, friendship is included in them, in friendship no other is necessary form of love.
However, if we stop to think carefully about friendship we wonder what is really a true friendship? How do I distinguish a good friend from a colleague? If you want to answer these questions, keep reading this Psychology-Online article: what is true friendship.
Friendship is a bond or affective relationship between two or more people, which is governed by essential values such as: trust, loyalty, love, generosity, unconditionality, sincerity and commitment. Even if friendship as value it is also a personal value in itself. Friendship is founded on a disinterested feeling, appearing spontaneously, friendships are chosen.
A friendship it will be sincere when the person gives everything of himself without expecting anything in return, although it is necessary that the interest, predisposition, continuity and bond are reciprocal. On the other hand, a true friendship must be cared for and although it is not necessary to maintain physical or direct contact to maintain a friendship, other forms of communication must be found.
Regarding the meaning of friend or definition of friend It is the person with whom this bond is selflessly maintained. Friendship does not understand ages, genders, types of relationships, ethnicities, ideologies, cultures,... we tend to question questions such as: Can there be true friendship between a man and a woman? The answer to the question is yes. Friendship can appear in all forms of relationship, even between an animal and man, as they well say, "the dog is man's best friend ”, friendship will always appear when their values are reciprocally promoted implicit.
There are many types of friendship defined throughout history, however, the vast majority of them have adopted the division into three types of friendship unfounded by Aristotle, who classified friendship in friendship for pleasure, for utility and for virtue, and all of them share a reciprocal affection, although their purpose is different. Let's see what characteristics each type of friendship presents!
Friendship for pleasure
Friendship for pleasure is the most frequent among young people, since they live pursuing their passions, what they find pleasant. This is based on a reciprocal friendship where both friends get what they want, through the satisfaction of both.
This friendship tends to appear when, for example, two friends share the same passion for sports activities, partying, playing in a music group,... they are friendships that are built on a shared passion and for this reason, they tend to be more volatile, because as we age, our passions change and this kind of friendship depends on mutual pleasure, so that when the pleasures pursued vary, friendship tends to fade. For this reason, it is common for young people to fuse quickly, in the same way that they end easily.
Friendship for utility
In this type of friendship, the bond that holds the two people together is centered on receive some mutual benefit and for this reason, it tends to occur between opposing people, since one expects from the other what he does not have. Friendships for utility tend to be easy to dissolve, since when one of the two people is no longer useful to the other, the friendship dissolves.
In friendship for utility complaints and reproaches are frequentBecause if what sustains friendship is utility, the person increasingly demands more, because he believes that he receives less than he should deserve. Claims are only presented in this type of friendship, since in friendships for pleasure, after having shared moments of pleasure When these change, people separate, while friendships for utility do not separate so easily, as they will continue to present themselves as friends as long as they can continue to take advantage of the friendship relationship and true friendship or friendship by virtue, does not understand reproaches.
Friendship by virtue or true friendship
The third type of friendship is friendship by virtue or true friendship, known as the friendship of the good. This type of friendship conceives the appreciation of the good and the virtuous of life, without any added purpose, without expecting to take advantage of anything. True friendship relationships tend to last a lifetime, to be intimate and deep and do not hide a why, they flow by themselves.
In true friendship neither bothers the other, since both want to share their time together, in true friendship both feel free to share freely, discussing their disagreements without trying to impose one on the other, in true friendship the joys are shared and the relationship becomes more enjoyable. adversity. True friends grow together as people, they are sincere with each other, they seek to understand you without judging you, they maintain a constant concern for you, they know listen to you and help you with the heart, and all this they will give you without expecting anything in return, only that this love is shared.
One of the friendship quotes The best known truth is that "whoever has a friend has a treasure", since friendship is the most precious treasure that can be possessed. We spend the day surrounded by people who accompany us and social networks show us the importance of constantly connecting. However, we operate at an accelerated pace, with the impossibility of being able to dedicate everything necessary to found a friendship to all the people around us and we fall into the error of thinking that a friend can be found anywhere place.
We find ourselves surrounded by colleagues, but we must begin to ask ourselves who really is a friend and when you find your answer value it and take care of it, well a good friend will always be by your sideIn good times and bad, you will be there selflessly, without demands, without expecting anything. A good friend will hug you when you are sad and dry your tears, just as they will bring out your best smile, celebrate your achievements, accompany you in your failures and remain by your side when the world gives you back.
A true friendship is a friendship for a lifetime and that is why it is very important to assess which friendships are worth remaining by our side. Learning to distinguish a good friend from a colleague can be difficult on many occasions, but for know if a friendship is true focus on the friendship values that we have defined before are present. And you, are you a good friend? If you want to check it, you can do the friendship test, which will help you reflect on whether your friendship is true.
