Building trust in your friendships
Building trust in your friendships that surround you can be a very challenging event. Finding a friend whom you can trust is a valuable source of your personal feelings. One in three people will confide in a friend about mistakes, personal feelings or goals. That is only 22% of the population that will share their true feelings with another.
Below are some suggestions and examples on how you can improve your friendships with others and how you can also become a better friend.
To begin, find someone that you share common goals and interests. Take your time when getting to know someone new; there is always more to a person that what meets the eye. Can you share your deepest feelings and emotions with this person? Can you also talk to them about your moods, what makes you happy and what your concerns are? Start by using your common subject and growing with it. Once you talk about that feeling, elaborate on how you feel about other things that are important to you or how you feel about another subject. Watch for your friend's reaction. If it is one that you trust you know you have found someone to confide in.
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Be sure to listen to your friend also. No one ever wants to be that friend that dominates the friendship. Listen as much as you want to be heard. When you are talking with a friend or helping a friend thru a situation you can help them by listening to what they are saying to you. You don't have to always respond with words or with an opinion.
A simple of the head or a statement such as "I understand" will let them know that you are truly listening to their feelings. Wait until the appropriate time in the conversation to give them a suggestion or how you feel. This usually comes towards the end of the conversation. Your friend may even ask you to share your feelings with them. If your opinions are different than your friends, so compassion and respect when disagreeing, you don't want to start an argument and ruin the relationship you have worked so hard to build.
Once you find a connection in a friendship, build on it as much as you can. Don't let a subject go dull by always talking about the same thing. Find new things that you can have conversations about and find new activities you can do together. Being outdoors can improve a person's mood or attitude by 40%. Moving your body and having the sun on your face can help you to become more open about a subject. It can also give you the opportunity to dig down and find out what you need to talk about. The more you circulate your blood, the more your brain is going to work.
Show that you are a friend that can be trusted by example. If you tell a friend that you are going to come to their house to help them on a project or you are going to call by a certain time, follow thru. Doing so will show your friend that you are committed to your friendship and you want to be there to support them. If you find yourself in a circumstance that you cannot make it to a function that you have already committed to, show respect by calling your friend and letting them know that you cannot be there. You don't have to tell them why, but it will let your friend know that you care about them and that you care about their needs and their happiness.
