Friendship friendship friendship what comes to your mind when you hear "friendship"you may already be thinking about your favorite person or someone you can really rely on or probably someone you love having fun with or spending your time with. You might not be far from right, but when you were younger you probably mistook playmates, acquaintances and friendships. let's get to understand the three concepts.

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1. Playmate: These are more like your peers who you have fun with, you cant rely count on them in time of need. This is very common in young children, when they're growing up in the neighborhood they may happen to have kids of your around and they tend to play together and have fun together.

2. Acquaintances: Acquaintances are people who you know. You meet them at certain places, it could be every day. You just know them but sometimes may never have any intimate conversation with them or sometimes they might be some kind of 'hi, hi' people.

3. Friends: Merriem webster defines a friend as someone attached to another by affection or esteem . To me, these ones are our real gees. 😎 They are the ones you can count and rely on anytime and vice versa.

At some point in our lives, we have all had playmates, friends and acquaintances. But, our primary focus today will be on friendships, because that's a very vital issue that must not be overlooked. Why?

Because the kind of friends you keep are the kind of people that help you grow, they're the kind of people that help you be what you want to be. The're the kind of people who you get comfortable with, they're the kind of people you want in your life. So having gotten to understand who a friend is, we're going to look at friendships in general, which has to do with the connection, the intimacy, the attachment that exists between two people or more. Friends can be found anywhere at school, at work, the gym, shopping malls, saloons and anywhere you can think of. There too are different types of friends and i'll be mentioning some.

💢 Long time friends: You could call them childhood friends. You grow with them and spend almost all your Youthful age with them until now. This kind of friendship is usually very strong and can last for years and even to the next generation.

💢 Friends who we find through trying circumstances: Imagine this scenario where you may have happened to be kidnapped along with another person and then after struggling to find your way out and looking out for each other throughout the saga, definitely there is going to be the bond of friendship formed because of the situation you both went through together.

💢Friends established through a long-term acquaintance: When you get to know someone for a very long time and then you start getting attached to the person, it might not be that very often but being that the time been of which have known the person is very long and probably you get to meet the person somewhere else apart from where you first met them and you happen to develop a bond of friendship with them.

💢Genuine friends: How about making genuine friends? definitely I'm sure you have heard that a friend in need is a friend indeed. So who is that friend indeed you have?

let me take your mind to a scenario that happened sometime last year. There was a lady who got involved in a very ghastly accident in fact, it was a trailer who knocked her down. Honestly, no one ever believed she would still be alive but then she was being rushed to a hospital. She needed to undergo operation and needed serious medical attention. The nurses and doctors did try their best but she would need constant attention more like someone waiting on her and yes someone volunteered to. Out of love, the person had to suspend her studies just to wait on her to give her all the attention and time she needed. There is no doubt that that is a true friend, a friend indeed.
Reliable and true, that's just what genuine friends do.
Are you that kind of friend or would you want such kind of friend?

Your answer may probably be Yes
But, have you wondered why you don't have such a friend?

I remember when I was in primary five,my sister and I always prayed that God gives us friend like us. People who like what we like and dislike what we dislike and many other attributes. And yep, I did find one. so in effect God did answer my prayers though it was aa few years later. Sometimes not everyone gets that lucky to have such a friend. If you are one, you might give a try tomy prayer method too.

Next, we'll see reasons many don't get that lucky like me.

• probably because they think that they might never find someone who is like them

• it could be because they are very reserved and cannot associate easily with people

• some dont want to make friends, they just want to there as some "all weather person."

• Many too don't because they don't have a desirable character or attitude that endears people to them.

let's talk about the value of friendship the value of friendship to help you appreciate this better.

Value of friendship

We did mention earlier that friends are the kind of people that you need around you to help you grow. There are more like catalyst to your growth that help to speed up your growth circle.

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The positive motivations, the move the enthusiasm, the push I get most times are from my friends. Friendship is something that should be really valued. At some points in our lives, we need help from people, you'll need guidance and tutoring and your friends, they are the ones that come true for you and are always there when you need them. That's the value of friendship being there for you when you need them, helping each other grow, keeping in touch no matter the circumstances, give each other a shoulder to cry on, never forgetting each other and keeping the memories alive.

making friends

Making friends for an extrovert could be pretty easy as snapping a finger. For introverts, it wouldn't be that easy. So, here are few steps to help you make friends.

🌹First of all, be a friend📌 you can't possibly have a good friend if you are not a good friend. Exhibits the type of qualities you'd love your friends to. Do the type of things you would love your friends to do and avoid the ones that they would dislike and in that way someone who is just like you, could be a genuine person would be endeared to your qualities

🌹Be observant: Being observant has to do with being conscious and looking out for what you need in a friend. You can't just call anyone a friend right? You'd look for the type of qualities that you possess or the type of qualities that you love in the other person it could be the person's caring nature, loyalty, generosity or could be anything.

🌹Avoid being a loner: Some people claim to be loners even when they are not. Being a loner doesn't even make sense at the first place,
humanities were ment to socialize. I remember a nursery school poem we used to sing.

human beings are social beings and we must all live together.

We are all social beings and so should behave like one. Being a loner does not mean being extremely loquacious or extremely spending on others or showing off or trying to get the persons attention. Being social doesn't mean trying to forcefully draw another person's attention. If someone sees you and notices you definitely the person would also make efforts to be friends with you.

🌹 Stop forcing friendships: Forcing friendships is not a good way to make friends. It might only leave you broken when the friendship crashes or could even deter you from the person. Forcing frienships make you look like a pest in a person's life and definitely friends are symbiotic and not parasitic, so don't put out yourself as one.

🌹Avail yourself in the right place and with the right set of people. Now, if you're looking for a friend who is serious in his or her academics, a club wouldn't be your first choice of option to ook out for friends, but a library might be one. You just need to avail yourself any place where you are most likely to find someone who is like you or posses a quality to your taste.

Friendship is time, friendship is gold so treasure it. When you finally find someone who you call a friend and get attached to you do well to please the person and not do things that will get the person annoyed or angry with you. Friendships should be valued

But if you are an introvert, you might still find it hard to make friends so easily. I'm not a psychologist or a core extrovert but this could prove to be great tips to socialize with people if you are introvertive.

👤 First, when you see someone, you give them a warm smile.😃 Yes, a warm smile. Sometimes, a smile could be look boring or look very tiring or look fake so you want to give people a warm smile. It is a pill that immediately makes one feel easy with you.

👤The next, you greet them in a friendly manner you don't necessarily need the official "good morning sir oh good morning" just "hi" with a very nice smell could go a very long way to interest your potential friend and what's next?

👤third, exchange pleasantries you get to know each other's names and probably any other thing of interest or talk about the situation of things around where you presently are, it could be about the traffic jam or long wait for the lecturer to come in, or how high the price of goods have gone or just something else.

Trust me, if you try that format above 👆you'll see that is a very good recipe to get to socialize.

👤Next up is observe and filter. Filter the kind of people you would love as friends. Talking about filtering people you would love as friends,*** not everyone is worthy of being your friend***. yes, you can read that thrice. some needs to remain playmates(if you still keep one) better still, acquaintances.

The friend filter

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If not everyone needs to be called friends, how do i filter my friends?

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This is how you filter the kind of friends you need.

• First of all, you can make a list of all the people who you call friends.

• Next, you're going to be adding a "tick or an x" to some

1. Next, you're going to be eliminating toxic people from your life. These are people who just want to gain from you, they intentionally and consciously do not want to add anything to your life. They just feel they should be the ones sucking and sapping from you. All they do is drain your energy, your strength, your value, your money, everything. But, they are not ready to give in anything whatever for an exchange. Those are toxic people, people that deter your growth, people that suppress your growth and destroy you. They should never be ticked

2. adding a tick beside those who have impacted positively in your life. Those people who have added value to you, those people who are willing to be there when you needed them, those people who gave you what you need even when you do not ask.

You can identify toxic people by observing. Giving critical scrutiny of their lifestyle, the way they dress, the way the speak, the were they presents themselves even their social media,
You can know the type of people you do not want to associate with and the kind of people you will be comfortable with.

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Now after marking and taking note of those in different categories, you know genuine ones they are the ones who you spend more of your time with, the ones you really extend your hand of generosity more, ones that who you really really willing to assist and give a helping hand even when you are at your lowest time. So the cruxs of the matter is that you need to avoid and filter off toxic people in your life. Attract or attach value filled people in your life. Make such ones the kind of people you want to socialize with, stay with and enjoy your time with them.

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Don't just wait for value filed friends to be the enzymes of your growth, also be an agent of positive reaction to another person's growth. Don't be the toxic one nor let the friendship revolve around you only and don't let toxic people into your life.

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Friendships should be treasured and should be long lasting but if anything should cut across your friendship or break the bond of friendship, be careful never to repeat the same mistake and also be careful to avoid things that would break your bond or friendship with others, try as much as possible never to break faith over long-standing friendships.

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Friendships are connections you need and so you need to be intentional about it that's it from the team this week, I hope you learned something new, I hope you choose your friends wisely, I hope you choose the right enzymes to speed up that spontaneous growth you desire. Now, it's time to socialize with that new buddy, cheers to value and profitable friendships to come.🥂🥂

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Introduction

• Series 01
• series 02
• series 03
• series 04
• Series 05
• series 06
• series 07
• series 08
  Here's my steemit introduction post