The price of friendship. A good friend is priceless, it’s a relationship that brings so many benefits. A good friend provides us with honest feedback, consoles us in times of grief and provides comradery. Even though a good friend is priceless, can we honestly say that friendship does not come at a price?
During our lives we will make new friends, lose old friends and stay connected with others. Some of us have friendships that originated during our early childhood, friendships which started in our teens and others have friendships which we’re formed in our adult years. Honestly the value of a good friend is not measured by when they enter our lives but by the way they enrich it.
So what constitutes a good friend?
It starts with them being someone whom you enjoy spending time with. It could be due to you having overlapping hobbies, common goals or someone with whom you have stimulating conversations with. You see them as being trustworthy, they support you and most importantly they accept you as you are. Friendships come in various forms.
We have the ‘TV-version’ where friends are shown to be inseparable and then there is also the other version where friends come together at certain moments for certain activities. We may even have different friends for different aspects of our lives. Different friends bring different expectations with them.
The price of friendship lies in the expectations we/they have. These expectations are not always the same. Let’s take time spent with each other as an example. For someone spending a day per week with their friend is what constitutes the basis of a good friendship. While for the other simply spending an hour with each other has great value.
In this example the one who values an hour seems to be expecting less. However if this person has a very demanding time schedule when it comes to work and family, they possibly value that hour more than their friend who aims for a day simply because he/she has more time on hand.
Other expectations lie in the willingness to provide something when needed. Let’s use a favour as an example. Favours come in different forms. It could be helping out with moving to a new home but it could also be a simple phone call. For one, certain favours are a natural part of friendships while for others they are not a standard something within friendships.
In a good friendship there is a consensus on what is needed to add value in the other’s life. It is important that within the consensus it is clear what the different worth and values are. Sit back and honestly asses what is the price of your friendship.
Are your friends aware of the price and do you truly see them as deserving of your friendship?
