Friends

Friends are important in all stages of life. When you’re young, you need friends to play with and to help you learn how to interact with other people. As you grow older, it’s good to have friends you can go to when you have problems that you don't want to talk to your parents about. Even after you're married, it's important to keep in touch with friends.

High School Friends

Sometimes your high school friends are the best friends you make in life. Many people remain friends with their old high school friends long after high school. That’s why it’s important to get involved in high school and make an effort to meet people and make friends. Many of them could be lifelong friendships. If you continue with post secondary education, you will likely make some very good friends there too. If some of your high school friends go on to the same school or career as you, they can be a good support as well as a valuable connection in the future.

Some people don't make all that many high school friends but meet a lot of their lifelong friends in college or university instead. Whether it is going to medical school and getting your msn nursing degree or finishing up for classes for business school; you will meet some of the most genuine people during college.

Good Friends and Bad Friends

What defines a good friend? There are a number of characteristics that make a good friend and these vary depending on the relationship in question. For instance, a good friend in elementary school is very different to a good friend in high school or later in life. In elementary school, a good friend might be someone who shares their crayons with you, and plays with you at recess. In high school you might have a number of good friends who are good friends for different reasons. Some are good friends because they’re fun to go to concerts with. Others are good friends because they have a good influence on you, whether they've kept you out of trouble or helped you to focus on school work. Good friends are rare and are worth making the effort to hang on to because you only meet so many in a lifetime.

Old friends

Old friends are usually worth hanging onto because they hold a piece of your past. Old friends often remember parts of your life that you don’t remember yourself. A good way to keep in touch with old friends is to remember to invite them to your birthday parties and that sort of thing. You could also keep up with old friends by organizing a high school reunion every few years. If they're really good friends, they'll appreciate it and make the effort now and then as well.

Best Friends

Though you may have plenty of friends, you may only consider a select few to be your best friends. Best friends are the friends that stick by your no matter what. Because I'm terrible at keeping up with people when I'm away or busy, my best friends are the ones who don't mind if they don’t hear from me for a while. My best friends know I'm bad at calling and responding to emails, but they're still there for me whenever I need them and are always happy to see me no matter how long it's been.

How to Make Friends

The best way to make friends is to get out of your house and get involved in activities that interest you. You'll find that the easiest places to make friends are often at school or work, because you're forced to see the same people every day. Also, if you're in college or you're working at a job that you like, you'll probably be surrounded by people with similar interests for a good part of your day. This makes it easier to relate to others and strike up conversation. If you're still having a hard time making friends, join some after school o after work clubs or sports teams. If you're interested in learning something new, take a fitness class or some sort of workshop where you can meet new people and make friends with similar interests.

Imaginary Friends

If you really need a good friend right away and don't have time for going out and meeting people, you can always make up an imaginary friend. Sometimes it's better not to let on to others that you have an imaginary friend, because it could make it even harder to make friends. If your child has an imaginary frnd, there's usually no need to worry. Many young children have imaginary friends which they eventually forget about when their older. If your child doesn’t let go of imaginary friends when they're older, there might be reason for concern, as they could potentially have mental problems.

Just Friends

Sometimes the last thing you want is another friend. If you have a romantic interest in someone, it can be heartbreaking if they tell you they want to be just friends. After all, nothing kills a good friendship like romance and nothing kills a good romance like friendship. Before you make your feelings known to a long-time friend, realize that you are putting your friendship on the line. If you have an old friend whose friendship means a lot to you, consider what might happen to your friendship if your friend doesn't feel the same way about you. Your friendship might become weird and you may find your friend avoiding you so as not to give he wrong impression. On the other hand, if a good friend agrees to go on a date with you and things don't go well, you may lose a friendship that way as well. You should try to be considerate of your friend's feelings because they might think you're being very insensitive by putting their friendship on the line like that. Girls often feel this way when asked out by a good friend.