by Michaela Langstone

Created on: December 19, 2009

As the song goes: "So keep your friends close and your enemies in your pocket"

It is better to have a small group of friends that you can trust rather than a large one since when you get to know people better, they tend to stick closer together and you may feel more comfortable with them since you know each other well.  Good friends are hard to find, but they are always worth the effort.

On the other hand, while it may be a good thing to have a large group of acquaintances, you may find that eventually, there is not enough of you to go around.  So, if you are popular, make friends easily and everyone seems to like you, the problem may be that you may not have enough time for everyone.  Thus, you may be more familiar with some people rather than others.  This is normal in a large group scenario.  Also, you may not realise that some people may get offended when they do not receive enough attention from you.  This is also quite common and nothing to be too bothered about.  Those people must learn to understand and realise that you are human and may not have enough time for everyone.  It does not mean that you dislike them.  Apologising to people may be good at times, since it shows your sincerity.

With a small group of friends, if you see each other on a regular basis, you tend to go through life together.  It makes it more fun that you share common experiences and memories with one another.  In a close friendship, you have a supportive environment in which you are loved, accepted and are allowed to grow as an individual person.  A good friendship gets better with age as you are together, helping each other in the ups and downs life brings your way.

There are times, though, when the people you call 'friends' can desert or even betray you.  This is why it is always a good idea to be careful whom you call your true friends.  A good way to test people is to pretend to tell them a secret about yourself that only you know.  If you do not hear any gossip, then they have proved to you that they are loyal and have the potential to be good friends.  If they go and tell, then do not treat them as a complete enemy, but be cautious of what you tell them.  Of course, try to never make any enemies in the first place.  So, the adage, "treat people how you want to be treated" still stands true today.

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