Friends, sunshine of life

Ganga Illeperuma

Some people come into our lives and quickly fade away. Some stay for a while and leave their mark in our hearts. And we are never, ever the same - Anonymous.

Do you want to have a lot of friends? Many people do and I’m sure you do too. But for that you should be a good friend first. That’s how you attract people to come to you. That’s how you make people want to build relationships with you.

Next, you should learn to accept other people as they are. Nobody is perfect including you. Everyone has both positive and negative sides. So don’t expect everyone to be what you want. Give them the freedom to be themselves with all their positive and negative traits.

It’s also important that you learn to give first. A real friend doesn’t just ask but also gives. In fact, that’s the mark of real friendship. So start giving. It could be as simple as saying hello or smiling. Or you could offer your help when your friend needs something. The important thing here is your sincerity.

Of course, you should also provide your time for them. To build strong friendship you need to spend time together. It doesn’t have to take much time. The quality of the time is more important than the length.

Most importantly, you should be there when they are in difficult times. It’s easy to befriend someone when everything is all right. But difficult times are your chances to prove that you are a true friend.

When you are looking to have a good friend, you must know what it means to be a good friend back to them and how to keep that person as your friend.

It is best if you seek out people who have the same interests as you do and somewhat of the same lifestyle. A good friend will be someone who understand your life and can identify with your situations.

You can find potential good friends at work, gym, parties, in your neighbourhood, via the Internet and through mutual contacts. But personally I feel friendship that is made in schools or university is everlasting. In these two places we meet friends in same age and almost in same feelings and emotions. Their hearts are not polluted. But in office sometimes we can’t find real friends because some are very business minded, not affable and they have many expectations in their lives.

A good friend needs respect, caring and kindness. You should be there when they are sad and need a shoulder to cry on. And most importantly, never take a good friend for granted because a true good friend is hard to find.