Happiness in Friendship

@ouiCherie

1.) Meaningful friendships can and should be built on mutual respect, honesty, laughter (not only at yourself in a healthy way but able to make each other laugh), the ability to work through problems and talk them out healthily, forgiveness, and maturity.

2.) If you're going to make a new friend. Try to take it slow and maybe invest in them and their interests. And hopefully, if its something you enjoy too, you can both enjoy it together 😊

@ouiCherie

1. One thing i had to recognize was imbalance and where it lied and the fear it was based in. This taught me to make sure how to listen to others and myself equally and provide critique after proper thought/evaluation or research.
2. Tip (again) Listen to yourself and others equally. Listening is an acquired skill and when you are highly traumatized and in chronic survival mode, listening will not be done well (i.e. you wont listen to voice inflection, read body language, or reflect on whether you been in situations and can empathize enough to understand). You're goal should be to apply proper listening as evenly as possible to everyone whilst paying attention/listening to yourself (i.e. are you feeling mentally tired or anxious, is this triggering thoughts of fearful situations that could cause you to lash out or completely shut down, are you staying present etc.). Mind you, if the situation becomes too harmful mentally, yes leave if you can, just make sure you're not lashing out on those whom have not harmed you, you are engaged and listening/paying attention as much as you can while paying attention to your needs at the same time. This helps with assertiveness, boundary creation (recognizing the difference in boundaries vs control etc.).

@ouiCherie

1. loyalty and just keeping each other in line and taking care of each other

2. if going to make a new friend make sure you pay attention to how they act and get their opinions on certain things because that could spot out a few red flags

1. I would say that to build a meaningful, long-lasting friendship (like any relationship) takes effort. It requires all the people involved to be invested in deepening the friendship and making sure it lasts.

2. To make a friend, I would say it's helpful to find something that the person likes or is interested in that you also like or are interested in, to have a jumping off point of connection.

@ouiCherie I think being able to sharing anything with a friend without judgment is really essential to a long lasting friendship. Definitely having things in common as well! There's just some people that get you like no one else and those people end up being your best friends!

1. Respect each other's boundaries, positive thinking on each other and sincerity

2. Although many people don't enjoy it, including me, it's necessary to invest time and energy for small meaningless talks with new friends. It can feel too awkward to start with deep conversation topics. And the small meaningless talks is an opportunity for us to observe the other's likes and dislikes + a base for stronger friendship.

Just my 2 cents.

I would say that relationships and friendships should be based on mutual explicit conversations about boundaries just so everyone knows what's on the table and stuff. It can be difficult to continue a relationship of any kind when there are no boundaries. Loyalty would be a close second I could identify - as it's masterfully important to make sure both ends of the Attachment are secure and foster a healthy dynamic.

@ouiCherie be your own best friend first then you will attract what you are 🙂

@ouiCherie

1. What are things that can build a meaningful long lasting friendship?

   one thing that can build a meaningful, long lasting friendship would be to find common ground on

   likes and dislikes between friends and then meeting each other half way.

2. Share one tip on how to make a new friend.

   one great way to meet a new friend is to join a group or club or community gathering where

   everyone there is gathered to talk about or do the same things that they like talking about

   and doing!

@ouiCherie

i'm not going to answer the two questions but i'm going to say my opinion. making a good friend can really help you with communicating. when i'm with my best friend, i'm not scared to talk to people that i don't know. but when i'm along, i just don't want to go outside. for example when i go swimming by myself, i will think that everyone have a partner except me, and its going to be so boring to swim by myself and i'm gonna feel nervous.