Sometimes it may be difficult for someone to find others with the characteristics of a true friend, but once found, it is absolutely worth it. How does a person know when they have found a true friend? well, it requires sacrifice, patience, respect and sharing common interests. People tend to believe they have true friends, but when a complicated situation arises, their friendship is tested. Sometimes they are faced with the hard truth that their friend is not the best friend they thought he was. Over the course of life, people make many friends and also lose many. However, true friends are the ones who remain forever through thick and thin. First of all, learning if the person has the right characteristics to have a healthy friendship is important to see if you have a good friend. The person should be kind, understanding and loving. Being a great listener and able to give helpful advice is a plus. Having optimistic and motivational vibes is always good to have in a friend. If they don't have any of these characteristics, it probably means the friendship won't last long. Furthermore, a good friend should be someone who can comfort another when he or she is feeling down. Necessary traits aren't the only things needed to know if the friendship is going in the right direction. Then you need to understand how they will react in serious situations, for example when people say mean things behind their friend's back. Will the friend take control and defend the person, or join the conversation and ally with the others? If they are true friends, they would obviously defend them immediately. Or a different situation occurs if two people plan to go on a trip for a specific weekend… middle of paper… and often it is not present. Finding true friends is like putting together a puzzle. The pieces are there, but knowing where they are or how they fit together isn't always obvious. I have learned to have a lot of respect for those who mean the most to me. People are fortunate to have a group of wonderful friends who care about them and deal with all the shortcomings and difficulties of life. Having just one good friend helps someone overcome most of the problems in their life. Every person may not be lucky to have even one good friend and this can really take a toll on someone's life. Getting true friendship is extremely necessary to become positive in all parts of life. I hope everyone, everywhere, has at least a couple of good friends in their lifetime. A friendship is something very personal and plays an important and unique role in my life.