Intentional & Meaningful Friendship

How do you know when you have built a deep and meaningful friendship? You know you have a deep and meaningful friendship with someone when:

1. I feel completely comfortable being myself around them 

2. I trust them completely, knowing they will keep my confidence

3. I feel safe to tell them anything, without fear of judgment

4. I can share my biggest dreams with them and be encouraged instead of being put down

5. I can share exciting news with them, and they get excited with and for me

6. I can call them, crying or upset about something, and they will listen

You know you have a meaningful friendship when someone can do these things for you and you for them. One of the most important things in friendship is that you can be there for someone's most exciting and hard news. Feeling someone else's struggle and pain and being with them through it is so important. You don’t need to make their problems your problems. You don’t need to solve all their problems; you just need to be there for them through it and be a listening ear. Most of the time, your friends want you to be present with them and listen to their struggles instead of trying to solve all their problems. 

The second most important thing in friendship is that you can get really excited with and for them without any jealousy. This is the ultimate test of friendship because a lot of people get jealous when something good happens to their friends. Being able to get excited with and for your friends, regardless of your personal circumstances, is incredibly important. You should want to be the first person your friend wants to call to share hard and exciting news.

In Simon Sinek’s podcast called A Bit Of Optimism, he said the following in episode 151

“But I think there’s an even closer level of friendship, which is when you can call somebody when something amazing happens. And they’re not jealous. And there’s no jealousy. And you can call them. And what you're doing is bragging, but not really. You just need to tell someone about this amazing thing that you accomplished, or that was given to you, or that was won or whatever it is. And if you told anyone else, they’d think you're bragging. But to that friend they have unbridled joy with you and for you. And what I’ve learned is the number of people I would call with good news is actually smaller than the number of people I would call with bad news.”

To watch episode 151 of A Bit Of Optimism, click this link: https://simonsinek.com/podcast/ 

So, can you be the friend someone wants to call with good and bad news? Especially good news? Can you have unbridled joy for your friend without any jealousy? I encourage you to be aware of how you respond to your friend's good and bad news, work hard to get sad with someone in their struggle, and get excited for someone in their excitement. Be the first person your friend wants to call with any kind of news they have.