by Annie H. Liko

Created on: July 17, 2008   Last Updated: January 23, 2009

As in almost everything in life, too much or too many of something will not bring good endings and I believe it is true in term of having friends. I prefer to have a smaller group of friends who are genuinely sincere in fostering the relationship to a lasting end.

But for those who seek popularity or are holding certain status in the society, they will definitely go for quantity; the more the better and of course, the merrier. But most of these kinds of friendships are just common acquaintances and some are weather friends who are not the reliable lot. Trustworthy will be at stake within a large group of friends as there normally tend to be sub-groups within the group and the issue of how reliable they are definitely would arise when you desperately need to share your personal problems with someone. Secrets would be a secret no more when one friend that you divulged your secret in would "innocently" share it with another who would again pass it on to the other and it would never just end there. There might be a lot of backstabbings going on just to get attention from the others or to outdo the rest.

Those who prefer the larger group will have to really put their time into getting together to get to know each other more rather than just knowing them at face value or just to catch up with one another. That would not be much of a problem if you are single but if you have a family, managing your time equally between friends and family can be stressful at times. Because of the wider scope, valuable family times could be jeopardized and there might be occasions whereby spouses and children would not appreciate the fact that there would always be someone or some families coming over to interrupt their weekends or some gatherings somewhere that they have to attend. It would always seem that friendly gatherings are always first on the list for every weekend.

Small group of friends are easier to "maintain". Most of them would know each other well enough over the years and they would cherish the relationship that they have and would not take one another for granted. They are the ones whom you could at least put your trust on. Trustworthy friends are not easy to find but weather friends will always make themselves available especially in good times. Therefore, my preference for smaller group of friends is because they are more closely knit compared to the larger group.

Learn more about this author, Annie H. Liko.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.