There’s no denying that friendship is one of the most wonderful things you will experience in your lifetime. Interpersonal relationships are one of the few rare things that will give your life meaning and be able to cheer you up when you’re down. Not everyone you meet will become your friend, and not all friendships will be incredible ones, but one you have a real, true friendship you will recognize it and never let it go.


Here are 5 great things you should find in every true friendship.

Commonalities

Having things in common with someone is usually what starts a friendship in the first place – whether it be that you work together, go to school together, are the same age, both love dogs, etc. And commonalities of some sort are usually what keep a friendship alive for years to come. If you and your friend enjoy a lot of the same things, there’s no doubt you’ll still be friends when you reach retirement age. You may even end up living in the same assisted living community together!

Honesty

Honesty is an important part of every relationship— whether a friendship, a romantic relationship, a work relationship, or otherwise. Everyone makes mistakes and in a lifelong friendship there will be times when you will hurt your friend or they will hurt you. This is to be expected as you are both only human. As long as you are both always honest with each other, your friendship will be able to survive any challenges it should face.

Loyalty

Loyalty, much like honesty, is something few friendships can survive without. Being loyal to someone means that you stick up for them and your friendship no matter what. You don’t leave them when they are going through hard times to go hang out with someone who is better looking or has more money, etc. You stick by them through thick and thin. Of course, this goes both ways and you should expect your friend to be equally as loyal to you.

Respect

Another vital element of a strong friendship is respect. You need to respect each other and treat each other as equals in order for both people in the friendship to feel fulfilled. If you don’t respect someone, it will be difficult for you to be kind to them, and kindness is also a big part of any friendship worth having.

Friendships can be challenging, but the good ones are definitely worth having. As long as you have honesty, loyalty, commonalities, and respect, your friendship will be able to survive no matter what and you will be in one another’s lives for decades to come.