Beshoo asks: How do I pick my good friends?
Hi Beshoo –
What a great question! Picking friends, especially your closer ones, is one of the most important choices anyone can make. And too often we pick them just based on who’s around, when we could do better.
There’s no perfect way to pick friends, but here are a few ideas to help you out.
1) Nice people usually act nice. If you see someone treating someone badly, or saying bad things about someone, there’s a really good chance they’ll do that again – to you! So pick friends who look like good people.
2) Lots of nice people have very different interests. And while it’s great to have a variety of friends, your closest friends should like a lot of the things you like. So find the kids who have your same interests, and you’ll find you enjoy hanging out a lot together.
3) Does a kid do things you respect? If you see a kid cheating at school, or doing things you find stupid at recess, they’re going to encourage you to do things that would take away your own self-respect (unless, of course, you like cheating and acting stupid!).
4) Do you laugh at the same jokes? A shared sense of humor is probably the most important thing (after trust) in a friendship.
5) And last but by no means least – for the very best friend possible – do they have four paws and a cold nose and interesting-smelling breath?! Do they bark? Because, oh Beshoo, there’s no friend like a dog! No one will ever be as happy to see you, or make you feel better about yourself!
I hope those ideas help, and before too long you find yourself surrounded by great friends – at least one of whom is a pooch!
Cheers,
Shirelle