Prerequisites for Every Friendship

Friendships happen in 5 major tiers where each tier has its boundaries. The earliest stage is strangers where little knowledge about each other is known and the friendship is superficial. It then leads to being acquaintances where you know each other to a slight degree may be because you have a common social group. Casual friendships trickle deeper to sharing fun activities and enjoying each other's company. A step above this is close friendships. At this stage, there is a strong bond of mutual trust and commitment.

At the top of the rank is intimate friendships where you deeply connect. You are the most vulnerable to an intimate friend because you are raw, authentic, and reveal your darkest secrets. Furthermore, intimate friendships if the parties therein are of the opposite gender, can lead to romantic friendships which are alright. This is because your partner has to be your best friend; that one being you can connect with at the deepest level.

There are so many issues revolving around friendships. Clear boundaries must be defined in every tier of friendship. For instance, you are accountable to your intimate and your close friends which is something you cannot do to your acquaintances.

Meaningful friendships are those that add value to our lives. This is why people who find themselves in toxic friendships tend to lead to awful ends. There are cases of jealous, abusive, and destructive friends whose mission changes from wanting the best for you to praying for thunder to strike you. To such people who instead of graduating from one level of friendship to a better one, turn against your back, find a wise way of dealing with them. You do not have to burn bridges because you will need them someday.

To crown it all, friendship is a long code. You don’t have to cut it but tie a knot where necessary. The kind of friends you choose has to be quality in that you add value to each. The smaller your inner circle, the better. Be wise to choose quality over quantity!