Someday, You'll Regret Never Having Them.

"Friendships are not acquired, they are nurtured"

Phillips Olayanju

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I've never been a person who invests a lot in friendships. My life has always been activity filled and goal oriented and so there's little or no play time. Yes, I've had friends but, they were acquired and not necessarily nurtured. I never saw the need to nurture them until I decided to lean on them and like a malnourished child, they crushed. Alas, it was not friendship but a figment of my imagination. Lately, I've learnt quite a lot on the essence of friendship.

Friends are those who will stay with you through thick and thin. If you feel you can take it all on your own; you don't need anyone in your life, you're making a great blunder. If you want to go far in life, you need people. The problem is they are not books you find on your shelf, neither are they groceries sold in a mart. They are acquired, nurtured, grown and someday, when you are down and lonely, you reap the fruit of your labour. The great thing about friendships is that once you get them, you have to nurture them else, they'll disappear into thin air. Unfortunately, you wouldn't realize the damage until you realize you need them. That's just how selfish we can be.

To nurture friendships, the first step is accepting yourself. Accepting your strengths and weakness is pivotal to having a flourishing relationship. Also, accept your friends. Accept their faults. Tolerate them. Give them space to grow and make mistakes. Excesive criticisms could ruin a blossoming friendship. Lastly, repect boundaries. Never do to other what you may never tolerate.

Above all, stay positive. You may not become friends with everyone you meet, but maintaining a friendly attitude and demeanor can help you improve the relationships in your life and sow the seeds of friendship with new acquaintances. However, true friends should never be confused with acquaintances, which are people you are friendly with on almost a daily basis. True friendship will stand the
test of time.

Have you been a true friend? Is there any particular way to identify true friendship? How do you know those who truly care for you and those who are only interested in using you to their advantage?