There’s a strange kind of friendship I see where one person is on the receiving end and not ready to give back as well. Friendship is a two way street- it’s give and take. Sometimes when one observes a trend that is so not right, and speaks out, you have advisers sliding into your inbox and advising on how you should not say this or that. We are a society of very touchy people who would call a genuine friend a hater, for speaking the truth to them. Not every critic is a hater- some genuinely want you to change for the better. So we continue- a society of people doing friendships where the other party is afraid to open up and tell you the truth freely because they do not want you to get upset or something. They hail you when you are clearly so wrong and allow you to continue to stew in your own foolishness- it cannot be right!

But a friendship in which one party does all the sacrifices and giving cannot be right. You have friends in business- you don’t patronize them, and even if you can’t, you don’t share their posts to help create awareness for their brands- you just pretend not to notice anything they’re doing. When you see them you smile and call them your friends. You are mere acquaintances – do not be deceived. It’s not about money, it’s not about expensive gifts, it’s not even about business patronage- it’s about making a genuine effort to understand what your ‘friend’ does and see how you could help them do better. It could involve an advise, sharing their posts on social media or just telling someone else about what they’re doing. The funny thing is that these kind of selfish friends who wouldn’t be bothered with you, will expect you to fall over backwards to assist them with their own thing. They are absent in your life, but resurrect on the day they need you to assist with something. This cannot be right on any level. Learn to give back as much as you expect to get from others.