Friendship Guide section

Okay, So I've been working on my little book for a couple days now and I think it's coming along quiet well. So i decided to give out a preview. It's the forward to the story. Please note that it has not been edited or revised yet. What you see is what I wrote the first time. Enjoy.

Forward

In a popular abridged anime, a particular character is often quoted saying “The power of friendship!” to the point of comedy. Though it is a great for the series, the power of friendship is no laughing matter. The power of friendship rivals so many different influences it’s astounding.

But what is friendship and how powerful is it really? In Webster’s New World™ Dictionary a “friend” is described as “a person whom one knows well and is fond of” and “friendship” is “the state of being friends”. While these are nice general definitions, it is my goal to expand on them by branching out in different kinds of friends and the difference between them.

We all know that there are “real friends” and “fake friends”, but it is my personal belief that within those two branches there is a whole network of other forces and “sublevels” of friends and whether or not they are interchangeable. An example would be a boyfriend. Hopefully your boyfriend is under your real friend category…unless he turned out to be a heartbreaking and/or cheating jerk that used you. Or maybe you had friend that betrayed you and turned into a fake friend and then miraculously get on your good side again. (If any of you have had this experience please, let me know how it worked out because I am extremely interested.)

So how do you know what friends will help you and who will hurt you?

I would recommend thinking and listing your own personal qualities and then decide what kind of people you attract. After all, we usually attract and hang out with those who have similar qualities to us. Then, look at your best friend and pinpoint what you like most about him or her and ask yourself why. This can also be used on yourself. Out of your qualities, what is the one that people like the most? When thinking about all of these qualities of yourself or others, take note of what you think of your list. It’s not a bad thing to look at your list and go, “Hey, I’m pretty cool.” Or, the alternative is “I’m not so great.” I sincerely hope that this is not the case, but if it is, there are always opportunities for improvement. No matter what your list says, we all have powerful influences. These influences can be manifested in a variety of ways in a array of places. Take the kid in school that everyone wants to get to know because he/she just has this essence around him/her that everyone likes.

Take that last example and take it to the opposite extreme. Think about those who you don’t want to even touch with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole. What are their qualities that make you cringe away from them? We’re all human and it’s natural to want to shy away from people that are the extreme opposite of you—but that does not make it right.

I believe there are three friend categories in this world: Real Friends, Fake Friends, and Friends Waiting to Happen. And it is within these categories that I will make my points. Hang on with me until then.