what a good friend should be

Be Honest. You must be able to expect real and honest communication from your friends. ...

Learn to Listen. A good friend must learn to listen. ...

Give Encouragement. ...

Show Love and Acceptance. ...

Be Loyal. ...

Remember the Details. ...

Reciprocate. ...

Relate.

What is a true best friend?

A truly supportive friend will love you for the person you are, flaws and all. That doesn't mean friends have to agree with each other all of the time. In fact, different outlooks can help expand our horizons. Still, a true friend will accept you and even find beauty in your quirks and imperfections. close friend is honest and speaks from the heart with good intentions. They tell you what you need to hear in a way that you can hear rather than gossip behind your back. A quality friend is trustworthy, not only are your secrets safe with them, but so are your vulnerability, fear, and weirdness.Life is busy, and humans are easily distracted. In these moments, though, knowing the qualities of a good friend is even more important. We need support the most when work is stressful or personal problems are weighing us down.

Whether you have too many best friends to count or are still looking for one or two, here’s everything you need to know about what makes a true friend and how to know which friendships are worth the investment.

Not every person you meet will become your new best friend. In fact, approaching meeting new people with an eye toward making a best friend is almost certainly going to create stress and possibly make people uncomfortable. A network of loose social connections is valuable to both your well-being and success, too. These loose friendly connections are what form a community.

Many people in our lives will move somewhere along the spectrum between acquaintance and best friend. These different relationships are all important. Understanding where someone fits on your spectrum and differentiating what you expect from the relationship is helpful. However, anyone you call a friend should live up to certain standards if you are going to invest yourself in the friendship.A friend with integrity acts in alignment with their values and commitments. They have strong moral principles, know the difference between right and wrong, and will speak or act when their principles are violated. They know themselves and behave and speak in ways that are consistent. Because of this, you can believe in them even when you disagree with themA close friend is honest and speaks from the heart with good intentions. They tell you what you need to hear in a way that you can hear rather than gossip behind your back. A quality friend is trustworthy, not only are your secrets safe with them, but so are your vulnerability, fear, and weirdness.Good friends show up, keep promises, do what they say they will do, and stand up for you. You don't have time for fair-weather friends. That doesn't mean a friend will be dependable across all dimensions — they aren't superheroes any more than you are. A friend can make mistakes, but you have to feel you can rely on them in some core way. For example, I have a friend who is always late and overwhelmed, but I know that I can depend on her to listen to me talk and accept me unconditionally.A good friend has that amazing ability to put themselves in your shoes, otherwise known as empathy. They do their best to understand what you’re feeling and react accordingly.Many red flags can alert you to a bad or fake friend. For the most part, you can look for the opposite of everything we mentioned above. But you should also watch out for these other toxic traits: