What is the true definition of friendship?

Friendship, this word means something different for everyone. The textbook defines friendship as a relationship between people who like each other and enjoy each other’s company, but when people are asked the question what does friendship mean to you the response is different for each person. For some, the meaning of friendship is deep and for others, they don’t think too much about it. One idea about friendship that people agree on is, friendship is needed in this world. No matter how you define a friendship, everyone needs a friend in this world.

 What friendship means to me

The question “What does friendship mean to me?” is a deep question for me. Friendship has always been an important part of my life. In my opinion, friendship isn’t just about having a connection with someone and having the same interest.  Friendship is about having someone with whom you can go and talk about anything too, trusting someone with anything, and supporting each other no matter what. I feel like friendship is needed in this world since the world can be very lonely sometimes, and having a person like that to go to make the world seem a little more bearable.

The importance of emotions in friendships

To truly see the different ways people define friendship, I interviewed different classmates of mine to see the different responses I would get. All of them were very similar but they all had a different way of thinking. One classmate named Adriana defined friendship as “friendship is a special relationship you have with someone that makes you happy and is there for you whenever you need them. they would never purposely hurt your feelings and whenever you feel lonely you can always count on them.” In an agreeable way, another classmate named Anthony described it as “friendship is a bond that is developed through time and effort. This bond created lets friends connect and share each other’s emotions. This connection is that person you will love even when you are in the wrong.” Both of these students worded the definition of friendship very differently but they both stress the importance of making sure your friends are there for you and that you can share your feelings with them. Also that if something goes wrong or you hurt your friend that you forgive them and make sure they know you never meant it on purpose. A statement from an anonymous student compliments these ideas by saying “ It means depending on someone when you need it most and being able to tell someone how you feel, and trusting that person”. All these students have very similar ideas. The meaning of friendship is about being there for each other, especially their feelings. This is why it’s important to understand that everyone thinks differently about friendship.

The importance of having fun with your friends   

These students had a lot of the same thoughts but took a different look into friendship. Not only is friendship important in the sense of being able to share your feelings with each other but also being able to have a good time with them. A student named Vanessa advocates that friendship to her is “The bond between you and another individual in which you feel comfortable expressing yourself who you also enjoy spending time with”. Also, a student named Micheal agrees in a way that  “Friendship means people who are always there for you in the darkest of times and people who will stick by you no matter what and people who make you laugh and people you will always have fun around”.  Again both of these students have different ways of defining friendship but with the agreeing fact that it’s important to have fun and be able to enjoy yourself around your friends. It is important for people to know that friendship is a very important thing and it’s important to know what friendship is all about.

Friendship as a whole 

       Everyone has a different definition of friendship. As you can see from the people I interview, this statement is true. Having a different definition of words is good. This causes people to want and expect different things from different situations. Even though a word might have many different meanings to people, there is always one key idea. A quote said by Hubert Humphrey explains the key idea of friendship perfectly. He said, “The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.” No matter what your definition of friendship is and what you want in a friendship, everyone can agree that friendships are important and are gifts. Even though everyone defines friendship differently, it is also important to know how to be a good friend. The definitions given by these students, show what is expected in a friendship and how to keep a good friendship in your life.