How to Make Friends and Keep Them

We cannot do without friends. But we cannot do with the wrong friends either.
We come into this world with several relationships thrust upon us. Friendships are God’s way of allowing us to choose our own people that we remain close with. With friendships, we have a choice. We must make the best use of it.
There are two sides to this story. On one hand, some people think they always land with the wrong people. On the other hand, there are people who think they can never make friends.
Are any of these your story? Read this sensitively written eBook to see how you can begin rating high on the Friend-o-meter.

Are You Really Ready for More Friends
Every person that thinks about having more friends must first find the answer to this question. If you are thinking you must really have more people to hang around with, you have to think whether you can afford to be with them. There are various things that may not make things conducive for you. These are the few aspects you have to really think about first.
Will you be able to spend time with them?
The first and the most important investment you have to make in any friendship is time. You have to be there to start and nurture the relationship. Your business or other things might run on automation, friendships and relationships don’t. If your current schedule does not permit you time to even have two proper meals a day, how would you build a friendship? In such a case, you have to free up some time first.
Is your personality ready?
Yes, you have to prepare yourself, or rather, you have to prepare the person you are so that you can win more friendships. Now what does that mean? In some cases, your mind is ready to make friends, but your personality isn’t. Maybe you have some traits because of which you lost some friendships before. Maybe you are too pushy or too complacent. Maybe you didn’t care. You have to work out these issues first. You have to make sure that the problems that crept in your previous friendships don’t creep in your new ones.
Is your mind ready?
If you want to make new friends, you have to be mentally prepared. You have to be ready to feel happy, care and be cared for, feel emotional and such. You have to be ready to open up your mind. If you have a secret, you will probably have to tell it to your friend one day. Are you mentally prepared for all of that? Make sure you are before allowing new people to enter into your mental space.
Are you ready for the commitment?
All right, these are not romantic relationships, but even friendships take some kind of commitment, which is just as solid as the romantic ones. You have to commit to be there for your friend. You have to be as good a friend to them as you expect them to be there for you. You have to make absolutely certain you will do what it takes to retain your friendships.

Where to Look for Friends Suitable to Your Tastes
God can come to you in any form at any time. We don’t realize when or how He comes. The same is with friends. Friends are all around us. We just don’t realize who they are. Most times, we lose potential friendships just because we are too preoccupied with ourselves. Sometimes, we do not even venture out to find where these potential friends are.
The truth is, friends are everywhere. They are meeting you all the time but there are some reservations that are keeping you from getting closer to them. Since now you have decided to find permanent friends, you can actually set out to look for them. Where do you find them then? Everywhere, yes, but where exactly?
Let us see how easy it is to find the friends you are looking for.
Join a Club or a Class
So your busy schedule does not allow you to meet more people apart from those that are working with you? Well, then use your weekends to the hilt. Join a club or a class for a subject that really interests you. Like French? Join a French speaking class. Like tennis? Join a club and play tennis there. It could be anything you like; there’s always a club or a class for that. People of all types are found in such places and since you are doing something together, the atmosphere is very conducive to friendships.
The best part of finding friends through these avenues is that these people are also interested in the same things as you are. So you already have something to talk about if an opportunity for conversation posed itself. If you are in a cooking class, you are going to start talking about cooking with others. This breaks the ice and slowly the conversation can veer toward other things.
The teachers or coaches in such places are already trained on how to foster friendships. They even do this from a business perspective. They are told that if they make people feel more comfortable in the class or the club, they are likelier to bring other people to join. Hence, they make sure everyone gets to know