A Mother’s Guide for Her Child to Cultivate Lifelong Friendships
This guide is for the God-sent Amaris Briahna in the Philippines from her mother who thinks the world of her.
Hopefully, with the help of this guide, she could become an amiable person who can win friends and keep them throughout her lifetime.
It is also for the countless other people who would love to cultivate genuine friendships that can stand petty and not-so-petty tests.
In this fast-paced age when people make fleeting relations, impersonal exchanges, and cold stance, true friendships have become so important.
Friends can be our angels.
They lend us a hand when we are down.
They lend us their ears when we want to say something.
When we go broke, some of them can also lend us money – LOL! =)
- Don’t disparage your friends, enemies, or other people. Your sharp words would wound their pride and burst their self-esteem. These words would breed resentment in them and put them on the defensive. Harsh words cannot correct a situation. They would just leave people feeling devastated. Instead of criticizing, understand people by trying to see things from their points of view. If you do not have any good words to say, then just zip your lips for your own good.
- Always speak well of others but never resort to flattery. When we appreciate people, we call attention to their positive points and in some ways encourage them to continue being the good people that they are. Still, do not kiss up to them. Flattery is vile and is despised by all types of human.
- Serve other people and do not be overly concerned about your own well-being. The world is already filled with selfish individuals trying to secure their own interests. A person who is unselfish and willing to look after the welfare of others would be greatly loved.
- Be honestly interested in what other people do, how they think, and who they truly are. People take cue from how they are treated. If you are interested in people, they become interested in you, too.
- Smile at people with warmth and enthusiasm. It won’t cost you a penny but will enrich the people who get it. You’ll be surprised at how much smiling could help you develop a good impression among people.
- Remember people’s names and call them by those names. Calling people by their given names creates goodwill since names are the loveliest words in people’s ears. Forget a person’s name and that person will instantly think that you do not think well of him or her.
- Empathize with people by patiently and attentively listening to them. If you give people the chance to talk about themselves and what they have to say, you’ll easily end up as one of the best conversationalists they’ve ever met! Oh yes, to be an interesting conversationalist, simply be interested in other people’s talks.
- Hold your temper and avoid arguments. Remember that it is possible to agree to disagree. When somebody yells at you, do not create bad vibrations by yelling back. Remember also that you can measure a person’s worth by the size of things that make them upset.
- Always strive to be intelligent but never flaunt your intelligence. When somebody says something that you feel is flawed, let them save face and do not tell them bluntly that they are dim-witted. If you do so, you would appear denser than you actually are.
- The world is already filled with braggarts and self-righteous people. It would make a difference if you would stay humble and admit your mistakes when you make one.Admitting that you are wrong lets people see the self-effacing side of you who is willing to own up to her blunders and make a good of them.
Copyright © 2011 Kerlyn Bautista
All Rights Reserved
