Need Pf Friends

Choose Your Friends, Choose Your Smiles! Dr Shefali Batra...................................................

IN ancient Rome in 106 BC, Cicero spoke of a sacred bond that allowed a person to care and be concerned for another with honesty, trust and truth. These were the distinct qualities that bound two individuals together and this bond soon came to be known as FRIENDSHIP. He claimed that when one of the two persons became 'EVIL' the bond was broken and the friendship ended! Who are friends after all?We have several people we care for and are concerned about. We like to spend time with a lot of people, share our joys and sorrows, gossip a little bit about others, and occasionally; even fight and make up with them. We look forward to meeting these people on a daily basis while we are young, maybe weekly when we start getting older and busier; and sometimes monthly or yearly too if we change cities or countries of residence. This is that special category of people we call 'friends'.

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~ Douglas PagelsLife cycle of friendshipsIn the period between the end of early childhood and the onset of full adulthood, friendships are often the MOST important relationships in the emotional life of the teenager; and are often more intense than relationships later in life. One does make friends all along the way but the intensity is the maximum in adolescence. A study by researchers from Purdue University found that secondary-education friendships (e.g. college, university) last longer than the friendships before it and after it. Source of trouble? Understanding the ‘FRENEMY’!Having no friends can be emotionally damaging. In cases of shy and withdrawn people, the idea of approaching someone for friendship becomes a source of stress. Yet in other cases, arguments and fights with friends lead to a lot of dissatisfaction and trouble. If these are within limits, they in fact lead to...