9 Qualities You Need in a Good Friend

I drove upstate to visit my best friend from college this past weekend because she just had her first baby. I couldn’t help but ponder the milestones we’ve shared: graduations, weddings, fur-babies, careers, buying and selling homes, and now…motherhood! Our friendship has felt pretty special from the start, so it got me thinking about what it is that makes our relationship so life-giving…

9 Qualities That Make a Good Friend:

1. Someone who helps carry your load, but doesn’t make you feel like a burden.
2. Someone who knows your worst, but only sees your best.
3. Someone who never makes you feel small, no matter how big they are.
4. Someone who doesn’t flaunt, especially when they know you’re hurting.
5. Someone who never makes you feel like you have not arrived, but still encourages you to grow.
6. Someone who rejoices in your accomplishments, as if they were their own.
7. Someone who doesn’t hold your mistakes over your head, but throws them deep into the sea of forgiveness.
8. Someone who gives you their very best, but does so without contingencies.
9. Someone who doesn’t make you feel like you have to perform, because they love you for being exactly who you are.

While I think our friendship just might be the best of the best (as any good bestie would say), I’m glad there are a lot more women out there who feel the same way. If you’re one of them, you were probably nodding along with every point. You also might have some of your own ideas to add—don’t be shy! Share away!

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For more relationship advice, start here:

Ask Dr. Zoe – How Do You Make Friends as an Adult?
9 Marks of a Beautiful Woman (on the Inside)
Just Because She’s Pretty, Doesn’t Mean You’re Not
5 Tips for Mending Fences in Your Relationships
You Don’t Have to Be Strong All by Yourself

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#gritandgracelife

Be sure to listen to this podcast episode from This Grit and Grace Life, where Darlene and Julie unpack these points in their own, fun way: Great Friends: 9 Qualities to Be One and Find One – 031!

Wondering if a friendship is no longer healthy for you? Don’t miss this one: When Is a Friendship Unhealthy and What Do You Do? – 081