What are the top qualities you look for in a friend? Me personally, I want it all. I want someone who will back me up even if it goes against what they believe, I want someone who will listen when I need to talk, I want someone who will be there for me through the good and the worst of times. Someone that no matter what, through thick and thin, this person will be there for me. Unfortunately we all know that all of these qualities are probably not going to available to us. So we settle for the first person to come along and offer us their friendship. Instead of waiting for the perfect friend we take the first one that comes. Because we don’t know that if we wait something better might come along.

Although, even though we want our best friend to be perfect, each one of us has three qualities we want our friend to have. We want them to listen, stand by our side, and speak up. Each one of those characteristics by itself is not very significant. But put them all together and you get the perfect best friend. The person you have been waiting for your entire life.
But what happens when you talk about each one of these characteristics in depth? Of course we want our best friend to listen to us, but what does that really mean? Do you want them to listen to every word that comes out of our mouths? Well, of course we do, but we also want them to listen with their heart. We want them to understand what we are saying without having to say a word. “Everyone hears what you say, Friends listen to what you say, Best friends listen to what you don’t say”-Anand Signd.
What about standing by your side? Of course we want our best friend to stand by our side, but what happens if your best friend lives in another town, state, or even country? Can they still stand by your side? Why can’t they? I think that even if your best friend isn’t by your side every moment of the day, they can still stand by you. Will your best friend ever forget your birthday? Will your best friend ever forget your friend-anniversary? No! They won’t, if your friend is truly your best friend they won’t forget the important stuff such as big dates, important events, and the things that make you happy. They will call you up or send a quick e-mail to you just to let you know they haven’t forgotten. This is the friend you want by your side.
And last, but definitely not least, we want our best friend to speak up. What does that exactly mean? Obviously we want our friend to talk to us. It’s not going to be a very good relationship if you are the only one doing the talking. We want our friend to feel comfortable around us. We want this friend to feel like she can speak her mind and be herself around us. But speaking up can also mean with their heart. Did you know that you can speak with your heart? Your heart speaks more than you know. It lets you know the difference between good and bad, the difference between a healthy relationship and a not so healthy relationship. Which relationship would you rather have? We want our friend to feel like they are in a healthy relationship. We want to offer this friend everything she offers us.