The 3 friends we need
Friends are important to me. I read somewhere that we are the average of the 6 closest people to us. As I live far away from my family and as my parents are in her late 60s/his early 80s, my mom once told me that I should take care of my friend network as my parents would not last forever.
The importance of friendship makes me think about the types of friends that I look for. There are the 3 friends that I’ve identified :
1. That friend you can call at 3 in the morning
If you have someone that you can call very late for a very sad news, that means you’re very lucky. That friend who cheers you up, who listens to and acceptes you as you are. That friend who makes you feel loved, who doesn’t judge you, to whom you can share every single thoughts and show the ugly side of yourself.
It’s usually an old friend from your childhood who reminds you of the peaceful moments, who dances with you the childish and silly moves.
2. That friend who pushes you hard
It can be an old classmate, or someone you meet later in your career or among your adult social network. It can be an older mentor or younger friend that you admire.
It’s someone you look up to, who inspires you with his ambition, vision, courage and competences. He pushes you ahead, sometimes so hard that you feel the peer pressure, but you can’t deny that he motivates you to move on.
3. That friend who criticizes you
or rather, the one that make you question about your lifestyle and yourself.
We need friends who are different from us, who don’t come from the same background, who make very different career and life choices, sometimes the ones that we don’t agree with or would never make. Because they broaden our vision, remind us that life is full of colors, that our values are not necessarily the absolute priority and that we need to be tolerant and respectful toward the others.
All these 3 friends are important (and probably I forgot some others). You can have one or many friends for each category, or can find some traits in each one of the people around you. You can also find these 3 “friends” among your classmates, colleagues, or family members, spouse, or even among your acquaintances.
That’s why it’s important to have various activities, be open-minded and make the effort to meet new people. But it’s also important to nourish your old friendships, show your gratitude toward your good friends and keep away the toxic ones.