Loyalty, but not of the blind variety. A friend stands alongside me and supports me, even if the support in question is asking “are you sure this is the right thing to do?” or saying “this is wrong”.
Lilly unpopular opinion: Turning up. I don’t like flakey friends. We are busy if we make time to stop and celebrate each other turn up. I know you are tired and can’t be bothered me to, but make the effort. Someone drops out or lets others down regular I’m out.
And ffs, if you’re not going to turn up, let me know asap.
A very long-term friend I loved hanging out with finally outright ghosted me after she’d been drifting the past year and while it hurts like hell, as I put more distance between me and her, I realized the anxiety I’d get every time we’d meet up was awful. She had no called no showed enough times that I never really felt sure she’d actually be there.
Yeah, life happens. But even when friends don’t have the means, we work something out, like providing them transportation or just hanging out at their place and helping with chores and chatting.
Patience/understanding
I’m autistic and introverted and often don’t respond to people immediately and drop off the map sometimes. Friends need to understand this and understand that it has no bearing on how I feel about them or our friendship
They’ve got to be a little weird.
An open mind. I feel unjudged to be around them if they often express an open minded/understanding attitude. I know some of my friends have worked on being less judgemental and I feel proud of them.
Communication. I’ve seen so many friend groups break down because people are talking around someone rather than to them.
Celebrating each other’s success without tearing the other down. It’s ok to be envious! But don’t take away from your friend’s win because of your feelings.
