What is friendship? What does it mean?

Personally, I believe that in order for a friendship to actually work, all parties concerned should put a lot of effort in it. If it does not require effort, there is nothing to work for; it becomes dull at some point, in addition to loosing contact through the course of time, making this so-called friendship, a relation with an acquaintance. However, certainly, there is a difference between having a friend and having a best friend. This does not depend on the amount of time spent with the person, yet, on how much common ground, as well as the level of comfort you feel around them… Nothing quite trivial, such as long distance, race, ethnicity, religion, gender or even sexual orientation, so on so forth… should be a reason to utterly reject someone, resulting in not being at the utmost least, fellows. Remember, we are all born equal. Moreover, the personality, the way the person or people treat their partner, should be regarded as a key point. The role of realizing whether or not a friend is nasty, in this situation, must be highlighted. Sometimes, when you feel a sense of fraternity or sisterhood towards another person, the nastiness of the amity may be overlooked, making matters worse. 

Now, the question to be asked is: how can you notice the signs of a nasty friendship? 

Indeed, the answers may be looked up on the internet and suchlike. 

Nevertheless, I am giving you these tips for two reasons: 

1- What you may find will mostly be overdramatic. 

2- Through the course of my life, I am able to confirm that I have had first hand experiences with about more than 3 nasty companionships. 

Remember that a friend should not lie to you, even if the truth is hurtful. Keeping things short and straight to the point are quite important. Also, they should appreciate what you do. Let’s suppose you were working on a project and you invested a lot of time in your part, this friend should appreciate your hard work and take into consideration your time-investment. Therefore, any change would have to be talked through and respected. Furthermore, your mate, a good one for the record, should never encourage you to commit any ill-natured actions towards yourself, even if they afflict it to themselves, recommending such pain inducing behavior to you is simply wrong. If they pressure you to do so, it is an immediate red flag. Although it perhaps meant to be a joke, the idea of encouraging you to carry out a similar deed is not what should be done. This involves constantly cheating on a test, more so substance abuse, or even suggesting suicide. Nonetheless, any type of verbal abuse leading to mental or physical mistreatment is a flagrant omen of insensitivity. It is to note that in the matter of having a mental illness or symptoms relating to the formerly stated, going to a therapist is an advisable solution. On that note, if said friend makes you believe you have a sort of mental ailment of any type, for instance, inferiority disorder, it is only to trick you into falling in a trap called manipulation. The previously mentioned leads to the final and most important point: manipulation. It is often hard to realize that you have been taken advantage of. Albeit, the easy way to notice this is when it reaches an unjust level, where you consequently feel suffocated… 

In spite of these few points being distinctively obvious, a little reminder would not hurt. 

Accordingly, the involvement in a likely harmful relationship will be considered no less than an unpleasant exposure. Thus, prithee if you; or someone you know, is in a malicious friendship, please speak up for everybody’s sake. 

We all deserve happiness.