BESHIES (Friends )

• Friendship is a distinctively personal relationship that is grounded in a concern on the part of each friend for the welfare of the other, for the other’s sake, and that involves some degree of intimacy. ( Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy )

As they say no man is an island. I do believe that each one of us have circle of friends. Friendship also plays important role in every individual's happiness. They are the ones whom we can lean on. A 2017 study in the journal Personal Relationships found that the presence of strong friendships is actually more indicative of overall health and happiness in old age than even family involvement and support! The benefits of friendship in general, however, are lifelong.

According to Degged-White, there are different types of friendship. These are acquaintance, friend, close friend and best friend. Acquaintances are easy to categorize. They're the people who aren't complete strangers, who you run into regularly at a place like the coffee shop or work cafeteria, but you don't really know. "They are people we know well enough to make small talk with on a regular basis.

By contrast, standard-issue "friends" are those that we try to run into or mix with. "The women that you share carpool duties with for kids' sports and that you usually hang out with or spend time with at the games, for instance. Or people that are your 'crowd' and the ones that you tend to socialize with on a regular basis," she explains.

These buddies are certainly valuable, but when the going gets rough you're more likely to reach out to a "close friend" for help or support. They're also the people you trade secrets with. Degges-White elaborates: "There's not just a strong level of trust between these friends, there's also a whole lot of unconditional regard and affinity. You may not like a close friend's choices, but you'd defend her right to make them."

Last but not least is the truly few and far between phenomenon of the "best friend." "Best friends are the rarest type of friend and the kind of friend that we all need to have in our lives. It's the friend who gets you without you having to explain yourself. It's the type of friend who loves you no matter what," Degges-White says. And they're not necessarily people you talk to every day. "You might go weeks or months without connecting, but when you do re-connect, it's as if no time has passed at all. These friendships are different in their ability to flex and endure even if life temporarily gets in the way. These are 'heart-to-heart' or 'soul friends' and they can give you comfort even if you're out of touch with this friend."

https://people.howstuffworks.com/what-is-friendship.htm

These are my friends. I consider them as my best friends. Our friendship started when we were in college. We were all irregular students that's why we always relate to each other. Though like any other friends, we also have misunderstandings but at the end of the day, we always reconcile. When one of us has a problem, we always support and help each other. Maybe the characteristics that we have to make our friendship work are we are loyal to each other, we always ready to help each other in times of difficulty, we lift each other's confidence and most importantly we trust each other. Though it is inevitable for us to have different personalities but we tried to understand each other. Sometimes we argue but our love for each other always prevail.

There was one time when I decided to stop my study due to financial problem. Though I have scholarship, it's still not enough because it only support my tuition fee. When it comes to my allowance, projects, contributions, and other miscellaneous fees, I was really struggling because I belong to a less fortunate family. I was really surprised what they did because they went to our house even though our place is far from theres. They encouraged me to continue my studies. They promised to support me as far as they can. I was so touched by there concern. Now, we all reached our dream.We finished our studies and have our bachelor's degree. I'm so lucky to have a circle of friends who are supportive and never left me behind.

Now, we may have different path but we still communicate each other.

-fredyzza07-