Even Taylor Swift would want you in her squad.
Sometimes you lie.
One main misconception about friendship is that it's a no-lying-whatsoever zone, Irene S. Levine, Ph.D., friendship and relationship expert and creator of The Friendship Blog, tells BuzzFeed Life. Obviously, you shouldn't lie about the big things, but that doesn't mean you should always say exactly what you're thinking.
"Sometimes you can couch things in a white lie and that's okay," says Levine. A good rule of thumb is judging whether or not the thing you want to comment on can be changed. Telling your friend they have bad breath is a good heads up, but saying their new haircut is too short helps no one.
WingNut Films / Via lordofthememe.com
You do little things for your friends just for the hell of it.
"People underestimate how important little things are all the time, but that's what makes up a friendship — a series of little gestures," Andrea Bonior, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of The Friendship Fix, tells BuzzFeed Life. "It's the difference between knowing that they like a certain candy versus actually occasionally buying them that candy." Even something as simple as messaging them on Facebook about a silly memory over liking their posts can make your friend's day.
You're on time more often than not.
Being chronically late might not FEEL like a big deal, but it can actually have an impact on your friendship, according to Levine. "It shows that you think your time is more precious than your friend's and that can really grate on the other person," she says. So make an effort.
You work through your fights the same way you would with a romantic partner.
Open communication about what's working and what's not in a friendship is just as important as it is in a romantic relationship, so Bonior suggests talking through issues as they come up and resisting the temptation to be passive aggressive or to wait for things to blow over on their own.
"Fights are at their most dangerous when they're actually not overt," she says. "If somebody did something that really hurt you, be open with your feelings and use 'I' statements. It's an old trick from couples therapy, but it applies to friends, too."
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