Contents
What can cost you friendship? Moving to another country? Lifestyle change? Serious differences of opinion? Not at all: in order to lose a loved one, it is often enough just to behave as described below.
1. Comparison with others
Let’s be honest: none of us is pleased when we are compared with others, especially if the comparison is not in our favor. If you often tell a friend about some of your friends or praise friends of friends, sooner or later he may decide that you do not appreciate him, that what he does for you is not enough, and he himself is not good enough.
So do not rush to tell an old friend about how stylish your current environment is dressing or how interesting you are with new acquaintances. Try to appreciate the journey you made together and that he stayed by your side when you needed it. Respect what a friend does, even if it seems to you that his progress and success is not so great.
2. Reminders of past mistakes
Remembering your own failures is quite painful, but you know what’s even more unpleasant? When someone else reminds us of them, especially if that “someone” is a person whom we consider a friend.
Therefore, you should not remind a loved one about the accident that he had every time he offers you a lift. Of course, if you do not feel safe when he is driving, you do not need to agree, but you can always find another good excuse to avoid a joint trip.
3. Disrespect for a point of view different from yours
Differences in values, religious and ideological views, political views and beliefs are not reasons to convince a friend or devalue his point of view.
Even if we do not agree with someone else’s opinion, it should be respected (if the views of a person categorically disgust you, just do not communicate with him).
4. Looking for flaws
As the English poet Alexander Pope said, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” We all have our shortcomings: your friend may misspelled, or misplaced words, or be completely deaf, but if he doesn’t ask you to correct him, don’t do it. And, of course, don’t blame him every time something goes wrong.
5. Betrayal
When we have a hard time, we rely on the fact that a friend will come to our aid, will be there, will not betray and will not go over to the side of the “enemy”. And our friends, in turn, expect the same from us: that we will not leave them in trouble, we will not turn away, we will not leave them alone when we are most needed. With one such act, we can cross out the years of the warmest friendship.
Yes, as a friend you can have many virtues: you can be an excellent conversationalist, an intellectual, the soul of a company. But to maintain a close relationship, it is much more important not to behave as described above. After all, becoming better means not only acquiring new positive traits and qualities, but also getting rid of old negative ones.