The problem of friendship is often a lack of a sense of purpose. Our attempts at friendship tend to be directionless because we collectively resist developing a clear picture of what friendship might really be for.  Yet, purpose doesn't have to ruin the friendship. On the contrary, the more we define what friendship is supposed to be, the more we can focus on what we should be doing with the people in our lives.

Discovering the purpose of friendship

<ol><li>Networking. We need collaborators who can align their abilities and energies with ours.</li><li>Reassurance. We're always on the verge of disgrace or disappointment. We need true friends to give us a necessary and accurate sense of their humiliations and insights with which we can judge ourselves and our lives more compassionately.</li><li>Fun. The pressure to guard our dignity, be serious and pass as a mature adults can become onerous. That's why we need to be silly with some friends.</li><li>Clarifying our minds. Something is wrong,  but we can't pin it down. The thinking friend assists us with knowing ourselves.</li></ol>

Four reasons for friendship

Our desire to build good and lasting friendships is often undermined by a lack of focus on what friendship should really be about. Getting clear about what friendship is for isn’t cynical; it provides the foundation for genuine bonds. If you like our films, take a look at our shop (we ship worldwide): https://goo.gl/CQTh1W Join our exclusive mailing list: http://bit.ly/2e0TQNJ Or visit us in person at our London HQ https://goo.gl/wSdLes FURTHER READING “Friendship should be one of the high points of existence, and yet it’s also the most routinely disappointing reality. Too often, you’re at supper at someone’s house: there’s an impressive spread and the hosts have evidently gone to a lot of trouble. But the conversation is meandering and devoid of real interest. It flits from an over-long description of the failings of the inflight service on a particular airline to a strangely heated discussion about the tax code. The intentions of the hosts are hugely touching, but (as so often) we go home wondering what on earth the whole performance was about…” You can read more on this and other topics on our blog TheBookofLife.org at this link: https://goo.gl/26Tzfx MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Our website has classes, articles and products to help you think and grow: https://goo.gl/ffShft Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships Do you speak a different language to English? Did you know you can submit Subtitles on all of our videos on YouTube? For instructions how to do this click here: https://goo.gl/7ZyUqT SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Rosa Fisher http://www.rosafisher.co.uk/ #TheSchoolOfLife

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Our desire to build good and lasting friendships is often undermined by a lack of focus on what friendship should really be about. Getting clear about what friendship is for isn’t cynical; it provides the foundation for genuine bonds.  If you like our films, take a look at our shop (we ship worldwide): https://goo.gl/CQTh1W   
Join our exclusive mailing list: http://bit.ly/2e0TQNJ 
Or visit us in person at our London HQ https://goo.gl/wSdLes 
  

FURTHER READING
“Friendship should be one of the high points of existence, and yet it’s also the most routinely disappointing reality.
Too often, you’re at supper at someone’s house: there’s an impressive spread and the hosts have evidently gone to a lot of trouble. But the conversation is meandering and devoid of real interest. It flits from an over-long description of the failings of the inflight service on a particular airline to a strangely heated discussion about the tax code. The intentions of the hosts are hugely touching, but (as so often) we go home wondering what on earth the whole performance was about…”
You can read more on this and other topics on our blog TheBookofLife.org at this link: https://goo.gl/26Tzfx 


MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE

Our website has classes, articles and products to help you think and grow: https://goo.gl/ffShft 

Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: 
http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships

Do you speak a different language to English?  Did you know you can submit Subtitles on all of our videos on YouTube?  For instructions how to do this click here: https://goo.gl/7ZyUqT 


SOCIAL MEDIA

Feel free to follow us at the links below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife   
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ 


CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Rosa Fisher
http://www.rosafisher.co.uk/ #TheSchoolOfLife

We're interested in self-understanding, calm and emotional maturity.

We have thousands of articles about emotional life for you on our website: www.theschooloflife.com

We offer online psychotherapy: www.theschooloflife.com/therapy

We publish one film a week, on Wednesdays at 14.00hrs GMT.

The Purpose of Friendship

Discovering the purpose of friendship

Four reasons for friendship

Christine Smith's ideas are part of this journey:

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