Can you really be friends forever?
Some friendships last forever and some don’t. With time, your interests, activities, and plans for the future change, and the same is true for your friends. To make a friendship last, you need to be prepared to adapt and make an effort. Here are some tips to make your friendships last a long time.
Allow Relationships to Adapt to Change
Are you okay with seeing each other less often if you don’t go to the same school anymore, or if one of you moves? Can you accept that your friend has a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or makes new friends? All these things can put a friendship to the test!
Maintaining an Equal Relationship
Friends should be equally important to each other. In a healthy friendship, friends listen to each other and take turns talking. Each person should have their time to speak and to be heard.
Respect your Friends
Accept your friends the way they are, and support each other through hard times, and don’t talk behind each other’s backs. If you both feel valued, safe, and confident in your friendship, it has the best chance of surviving.
Be Authentic and Tell the Truth
This can take a lot of courage, but remember that everyone makes mistakes in life and good friends are usually able to accept and forgive each other’s mistakes, weaknesses, and flaws. The opposite of being truthful, is telling lies, and these damage trust and harm friendships.
Communication
Sometimes a simple misunderstanding can break up a friendship. If you feel like you and your friend are drifting apart, talk about it so you can understand what’s really going on.
Resolve Conflicts and Talk About Sensitive Situations
No friendship is without some problems. So, try and find solutions together. If one of you tends to retreat or pout during a conflict, your friendship is more likely to weaken and go off course.
Accept that Sometimes Things will be More or Less Intense
Sometimes you will see certain friends more or less often, and that is totally normal and doesn’t mean that the relationship is over. You will probably find each other again when one of you has more time or when your activities bring you back together.
Take a Break
You or your friend might need some space, and to take a break. These times can be hard but necessary for the survival of the friendship.
Of course, sometimes one person needs to end the relationship completely. In this case it will probably be difficult for both of you. Losing a friend can be as hard as losing a boyfriend or girlfriend! If this happens to you, make sure you talk to a parent or an adult you trust.
