Let's talk about FRIENDS

friend [frend]
–noun
1.
a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2.
a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.
3.
a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe?



4.
a member of the same nation, party, etc.
5.
( initial capital letter ) a member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.
–verb (used with object)
6.
Rare . to befriend.
—Idiom
7.
make friends with, to enter into friendly relations with; become a friend to.

Everyone needs a friend. As the Dictionary defines, a friend is someone that gives advice or help when needed,someone that listens; a friend is a person who is simply THERE. It's interesting sometimes to examine the personalities of our friends.

Skinny friends, Fat friends, Bitchy friends, Talkative friends, Quiet friends, Nice friends... Like almost everything else, we categorize friends. We know who to tell certain things to, which secrets to share with whom and what activities to do with one and which not to do with another.

The truth is although we are always on the quest for that one true friend, people are also human. Humans make mistakes... clearly (just take up any newspaper and look on the front page, I am sure there will be a worthy example).

Depending on a friend at all times, burdening them with your problems and your issues, and your comments and your life is not how YOU be a friend. The person is not a crutch for you at all times, you need to be a crutch for them too. You cannot expect to be taking and not giving in any friendship. It's a mutual thing. Don't be selfish.

Friendships have boundaries. I am not going to go and flirt with my friend's boyfriend ,even if I like him, because there is a friend code. Haven't you heard of the friend code? It's this unwritten set of rules that friends should abide by. It's an issue of morals. What do you believe is morally wrong or right to do in matters concerning your friend? Abiding by the friend code also has to do with how close you are with the friend, and also the type of relationship you have with the friend. 

There are FRIENDS, and then there are friends and then there acquaintances. 

There are those dependable friends that you have known for years, or it feels like you have known them for years, they are nice, kind and they listen and give advice... You have so much in common and its wonderful, even if you haven't seen or spoken to them in a while they will continue to be there to support whenever you need them. 

Then there are those friends who you've known for some time, but they only pop up when they need/want something from you. They are there because they offer good conversation sporadically but you know you can't depend on them if you do have a problem. 

Then there are acquaintances it's not just the people you see about the place and say hello to, its also the people you may have on your BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) or any other messenger's contact list, you may even text them occasionally; but there is no real "connection" you talk to them because they are relatively nice people, but definitely not good enough to be a friend. 

You need to allow yourself to remember that friends make mistakes just like you and everybody else does, this is where forgiveness comes in. People say forgive and forget because it is believed that in order to truly forgive you need to forget about it and let it go. 

Yeah, that's what they say...I don't forget it though, I just store it in a section of my brain and think about it when making certain decisions. I would never use it against the person though, because that's kinda bad. I just don't allow them to know that I know about whatever it is they did, so they think I am not in control but I really am :) (cue evil laugh).

What I am really saying is that sometimes there is no need to curse, fight, tear out hair, lose weight, and end friendships. Sometimes you can keep somethings to yourself and address them internally so as not to burned the friendship. This can't be done in every situation though, there will be things that need to be ironed out and discussed at length; bad words may even have to fly, smady a guh tell smady bout dem mada an dem underneat an all kinda things...but this is sometimes necessary in keeping the sanctity of friendship.

That's just my take

In parting: Life is not static, so let your choice of friends throughout your life be DYNAMIC..

"A friend in need is a friend indeed"