The dictionary tells us, friendship is the relationship between and state of being friends. That said, friendship can have a host of different meanings in our lives. Friendship is an added responsibility to our lives because a friendship needs to be maintained. Friendship is one of life’s amenities because our friendships come with many benefits. While friendship plays an essential role in our lives, somewhere out there, there may be a person who believes they have no friends, and therefore, we can, hypothetically, say friendship is optional, though I would argue against this notion.

Some people split hairs on the words friend and associate, and people who have large networks of associates raise the bar of requirement and expectation for those they consider their “true friends”. Others have a basic set of requirements for those they consider friends and don’t limit the number of “true friends” they can have, so long as the requirements that establish the bond of friendship are met. However you decide who your friends are, you should know your friendship requirements well and be careful to nurture the bonds you have with those who have met those requirements, because “our friends are often linked to our successes and failures”.