So the rule of thumb for friend/partner/even enemy is to "Always listen carefully"
To be a great friend one has to be patient... and a bit crazy as well.
The idea is always be a source of peace and good lasting flavour.. this comes when you:
- Never get clingy
- Don’t get too personal
- Be there in the hour of need even if that means punching someone or getting their money back from a shoddy company
- Keep conversations light and witty 85% of the time
- Understand that silence is a good companion too so no need to talk all the time or connect 24/7
- Have serious conversations, but not more than 7% of the time
- When your friend shares a problem do NOT start off with, ‘you know something like this happened with me…’ no, don’t do that. If you are doing this, you have forgotten the rule of thumb.
- Never, ever be critical of their parents, partner or their hobbies
- When you cross the 10 year mark, you are officially in the no-judgement zone and you can then maybe do an “eye roll” or deliberately “snort” at their hobby or their partner … but never the parents (i think)
- As years go by, Every once in a year make sure you have a good long conversation; either face to face or on phone.
- No need to throw a lot of money on your friend to show how rich or how caring or how great you are. Instead mail a postcard, send a joke, or occasionally sending seasonal flowers online is enough. Birthdays are important to make sure you come up with thoughtful gifts like Spire, i know i would love it if someone gifted it to me,
- Birthday gifts dont have to be very expensive, any useful tech gadget or cute scarf for winter will do the trick also.
- When listening to your friend, do NOT try to fix the problem. Instead hug it out and be comforting. You can fix the problem 48 hours later also…
In short... be the kind of person you would want on the other side.
