Are there true friends? Acid test to find some.

Are you a true friend to someone? Then you should know what true friendship is.
True Friendship
How can we find true friendship in this often phony, temporary world? Friendship involves recognition or familiarity with another's personality. Friends often share likes and dislikes, interests, pursuits, and passion. How can we recognize potential friendship? Signs include a mutual desire for companionship and perhaps a common bond of some kind. Beyond that, genuine friendship involves a shared sense of caring and concern, a desire to see one another grow and develop, and a hope for each other to succeed in all aspects of life. True friendship involves action: doing something for someone else while expecting nothing in return; sharing thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or negative criticism.

True Friendship - Relationship, Trust, Accountability

True friendship involves a relationship. Those mutual attributes I mentioned above become the foundation in which recognition transpires into relationship. Many people say, "Oh, he's a good friend of mine," yet they never take time to spend time with that "good friend." Friendship takes time: time to get to know each other, time to build shared memories, time to invest in each other's growth.

Trust is essential to true friendship. We all need someone with whom we can share our lives, thoughts, feelings, and frustrations. We need to be able to share our deepest secrets with someone, without worrying that those secrets will end up on the Internet the next day! Failing to be trustworthy with those intimate secrets can destroy a friendship in a hurry. Faithfulness and loyalty are key to true friendship. Without them, we often feel betrayed, left out, and lonely. In true friendship, there are no backbiting, no negative thoughts, no turning away.

True friendship requires certain accountability factors. Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offense. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. Friends are dependable. In true friendship, unconditional love develops. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends.

Friendship and Self-Love

Three Forms of Friendship: based on and aiming at
(a) Immediate Pleasure. E.g. Romantic love
(b) Utility/Commercial friendship: a kind of instrumental friendship. E.g. acquaintances or social climbers.
(c) Perfect or complete friendship: exists among the people with certain level of maturity.

Why C is the highest form of friendship
1) It is based on excellence/experience
2) They are loved for their own sake.
3) It incorporates the other two kinds of friendship.
4) It is lasting and enduring.

A true friend is one who:
(1) Wishes and does good things for a friend, for the friend’s sake
(2) Wishes the friend to exist and live, for his own sake
(3) Spends time with his friend. They want to be in each other’s company.
(4) Makes the same choices as his friend. They share the same values
(5) Share his friend’s distresses and pleasures

"Having millions of friends is not a miracle, but it is a miracle if you have only one friend who stands by you, when millions are against you".

Try This
a) Tell your friends that you are broke and on the verge of bankruptcy, or
b) Tell them that you have a terminal disease, or
c) Tell them that you are leaving town for good.

Those who stay with you after hearing any of the above are probably your true friends and will be with you all through your life.