Avoiding Betrayal by Understanding the Differences Between Friends and Acquaintances

One of the greatest human relationships that can be achieved in life is a healthy friendship. In most languages, the etymological root of the term friend, means ‘to love,’ or companionship. Not only do our friendships enhance our social life, but are beneficial in maintaining strong physical health and mental stability. The January 8th, 2016 issue of Live Science, released a report on the value of friendship, entitled, 7 Ways Friendships Are Great For Your Health by Stephanie Pappas. The article lists some of the health benefits resulting from a strong friendship as longevity, endurance, and even mental clarity.

While the benefits of having healthy friendships are numerous, we find that many people in today’s society are suffering from a lack of friends. There are a lot of people who keep their minds locked inside their bodies and their spirits locked inside of their minds, out of the fear that is being propagated by a fear-based media and its emergency broadcast signal. Remember, life is a test. Nowadays, we find a lack of trust among people living in the same neighborhood, people living next door to each other, and finally, people who are on our Facebook friends’ list. This is not the first time in human history that people have gone crazy!

There are legitimate reasons for concern when it comes to the topic of creating and manufacturing your own friends zone, and other forms of companionship. Some people take joy in deceiving others by first posing as their friend. Next thing you know, there’s a ghost dipping in your stash, using your tampons and then putting them back into the box, pretending that everything is as it was before you met them. In most cases, our enemies were once our friends. Of course, certain associations last for a season and a break in friendship could just be that lucky day when fate is searching for a new vacation. Regardless of how well companionship and predestination dance in the rain, no one wants to be taken advantage of and this is where true androgyny begins.

We can reduce the nonsense of betrayal in our experience by understanding the difference between friends and acquaintances. Sometimes the lines between these two forms of relationships get blurred because of where we are at in life. In any regards, no matter how many pictures we post of our family and children on Facebook, it’s all about having a sense personal privacy in exchange for a sense of personal freedom, surrounding ourselves with excuses that prevent us from entering the realm of the senses. Let’s take a look at a few red flags and how we can prevent betrayal from clogging our space.

Be Sure to Set Your Own Boundaries. Do not overextend yourself when it comes to pleasing others. We all want to put our best foot forward in any encounter that may come our way. However, we also must set boundaries in terms of how we communicate with others and what information is worthy of communication. Our business is our business. Once you see “a newly found long time buddy,” trying to make you feel guilty for not revealing certain things that you have every right to hold on to, let them go.

Avoid Question Marks. Communication is the foundation of every relationship. It is also an important aspect in setting boundaries for ourselves. Questions are a method that we can get to know others better and learn about their understanding of life. It is for this very same reason that we should ask ourselves, why are we participating in an unnatural flow of questions?

Don’t worry. No one can do what someone else has achieved through hard work by just getting an answer to a question. No real understanding can come from the study of conclusions. This form of questioning may be the path of an acquaintance, but would make an absolutely one-sided friendship.

True Friends Share in the Celebration of Your Success in Life. We should never give jealousy an opportunity to enter our circumference in any way, shape, or form. The goodness of those that we call friends should acknowledge a love for the success of another as their own. Nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Jealousy is a gate that leads to the dark side of life. People who are possessed by this demon are beautiful handcrafted invitations of misfortune. The interesting thing about jealousy is that it often walks up on you without taking any footsteps, but can be killed in a moment’s notice with the sword of awareness.

Jealously enters the experience of the naive with a kiss of standing in agreement and listening to one individual talk behind another person’s back.  Your participation in this holiday is a sign that jealousy is about to fall in love with you.

Regardless of a person’s ethnicity, religious belief, and anything else that is superficial in life, it’s is very easy for a friend to push the like button when you have made an accomplishment. Jealousy will always make some excuse to be critical of what you are doing, or have done by placing a mental obstacle of fear in your path. For example, if you announce that you are opening up your own business, they are sure to reply that you have to do such and such to get things started. No one complains about taking off their clothes before having sex. That’s when you know it’s time to send jealousy your divorce papers.

Create Your Friendships Based on a Mutual Understanding of Life. How many of us imagine ourselves living on a ship that takes us through every experience we are going to have in life? It seems highly unlikely that such a thought enters the minds of people at large. We want to make choices in how we experience the journey of life. But guess what?

Many individuals have subscribed to the cruise ships of culture, classism, ethnicity, politics, race, religion, sexism, and etc.  These ships are made strong by organizations that promote philosophies relating to the subjects cited. It is not unusual to see friendships developed by one’s adherence to an organization of this sort. However, if we just so happen to be that Jehovah’s Witness who decides that “this religion is no longer for us” then, we can expect to have a lot of friends that are no longer speaking to us.  This is why it is important for us to base at least 50% of our friendships on a mutual understanding of life.

It would be more appropriate to conclude that relationships developed around our ties to an organization breeds familiarity with those involved, but very rarely do such relationships continue if we were to break away from the said organization’s agenda. As long as we are living a lifestyle that does not harm ourselves or others, we should have no problem in finding companions with others who share in the joy of living.