Building Friendships

In most cases, the transition from acquaintance to friendship occurs gradually. We reach out to offer friendship by offering a potential friend caring, listening, talking, sharing, accepting, and affirming. It takes time and effort to build a friendship . They are built slowly, slowly, slowly...Yet, nothing can add more to your life than having truly intimate friends . "Just friends " is a goal worth pursuing! Friendships can take up to three years to build! And building friendships is much the same for children as adults, but a bit quicker! Self-Disclosure builds friendships.

Self-disclosure is usually the first step in establishing a confidant. And it is scary because of the potential rejection factor. Do it anyway!

Start by sharing a few private thoughts and/or feelings with one person you might want for a close friend. If the person is responsive, he/she will usually share a personal thought or two with you.

If he/she is not responsive to your overtures, don't think of this as a rejection. People may be non-responsive for reasons of their own or merely as a perception of yours. Nevertheless, they can't be rejecting you because they don't even know you yet.

Listening and acknowledging builds friendships.

Often when your child, lover/partner, or friend tells you a story or voices a complaint, he/she is just asking for acknowledgment.

This does not mean that he/she wants agreement or compliance;   it merely indicates a desire to be heard and understood.

Try these three steps to acknowledgment:

1. Repeat   back.

2. Don't invalidate.

3. Don't try to change.

4. Don't problem solve.

Many   conflicts in your personal relationships can be avoided   if you will take the time to acknowledge other's feelings and points of view. For more information about acknowledgement, click here.

Listening and attending builds friendships

Paying attention to someone is called "attending." It means that your ears, your eyes, your body and your feelings are all focused on that person at one time. Attending is a very important part of any relationship. It includes:

1. Being there physically

2. Focusing

3. Eye contact

Looking at and focusing on another per