Friendships
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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing
it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
~Donna Roberts ~
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my friendships. Honestly, I have been struggling
with a few of them. I know everyone serves a purpose in your life. It’s up to each of us to figure out their purpose and accept it. A friend recently told me “everyone is not meant to be your bestie”. That is a very true statement.
As I was thinking about my various friendships, I realized that every friend fits into a
category. I started doing to research to see if there was a list of the types of friendships. I came across the list below written by Paul Adams. |
Eight Types of Friendships
"Associates" were people who only shared a common activity, like a hobby or a sport.
"Favor friends" were people who helped each other out in a functional manner, but not in an emotional manner.
"Fun friends" were people who socialized together, but only for fun. They didn’t provide each other with a deep level of emotional support.
"Helpmates" were a combination of favor friends and fun friends. They socialized together and helped each other out in a functional manner.
"Comforters" were like helpmates, but they also provided emotional support.
"Confidants" disclosed personal information to each other, enjoyed each other’s company, but weren’t always in a position to offer practical help, for example if they lived far away.
"Soulmates" displayed all of the elements.
This whole friendship thing had me twisted for a couple of months, but the realization that not everyone values or respects these roles helped me to let people go. I'd really like to do more research and reaching out to different people to get their feedback on the types that mean the most to them. These categories make total sense. I've started to embrace the thought that when someone either ceases to add or never has contributed to your life in one way or another (something as simple as a kind word counts) they fall into the associates category. Kinda surprised how many former "friends" are now associates...but that's a story for another time :-)
ReplyDeleteVery true!
ReplyDeleteI can defintely understand what you are saying CG! I am still struggling with letting some people go myself.
ReplyDelete