Friendships in life need to be easy. For a relationship that is a great source of support, love and care for us, friendship needs to be prosperous and they should help us grow as people. If that is not the case, there is something fundamentally wrong with our friendships. A lot of friendships can crumble under the pressure of insecurities, toxicity and negativity. There are ways to recognise a toxic friend of course and the ways you can cut away from that “friendship”. But some work begins at home too.

We need to make some effort to be our best when it comes to being a friend to our dear ones. A secure friend is a stable friend and a constant source of positivity. Here is how to strive to be one.

Don’t get into the comparison game

You will not like the end result of this one because no one is the winner. Every friend holds a different place in life. To compare yourself to a friend of a friend would make you look like an insecure person and ruin your chemistry with that friend. You are special in your own way because you get something different to the table of friendship.

Respect each other’s individual lives

Just like a romantic relationship, it is essential to know that your friend also has a life apart from you and that life might be something you may not understand, but you still have to respect it. A huge part of any bond is to understand the person as an individual. Don’t be the person who imposes your own life choices and behaviour on a friend. The same way you would want to be yourself, let your friend decide who they want to be.

Understand that everything isn’t about you

So they didn’t want to hang out Saturday night. Or they didn’t want to go watch that movie. Your friends are allowed to make their own choices without you thinking that the choice was affected because of you. Maybe you can go watch the movie with some other friend and do something else with this one. It is always a great idea to set the amount of expectations straight in any relationship.