Happily this is my first entry in hive Ghana community and I consider it a privilege.
I have a personal experience when it comes to choosing friends and I would love to share with you friends.
Years back I never had standard or criteria I looked for in the people I call my friends and this continued for a very long time till something tragic happened then I saw the need to reconsider my choice of friendship and set standards for people who wants to be my friend.
Then I had a friend named Bimbo and I never knew she takes things that doesn't belong to her, tho sometimes she did some questionable things but I didn't pay attention till the day I was disgraced in an eatery we went together.
It was a Sunday afternoon we stopped by an eatery to have lunch, after eating she was asked to make of payment, after few minutes she asked that we leave , I thinking that she has paid I stood up and walked out, the next minute the waiter came and started shouting saying that Bimbo didn't make any payments, she did what Nigerians know as fake alert and the money didn't move out of her account.
After all investigation I found out that she deliberately wanted to steal from the eatery, I walked away and that was the end of our friendship till date.
Quality friendship requires more.
There I learned that it is very important to look for friends who love your standard and live by it, then the adage that says Show me your friend and I will tell you whom you are become reality to me and I quit making friends for a very long time.
When I decided to try again, I now set a standard and strong criterias for anyone that wants to be my friend, am better without a friend than with one that will drag me into a crime I never commited.
My friend must be an honest and trustworthy person he or she must be the type that says the truth at all time, the person must have the fear of God and love to do what pleases God at all time no matter how difficult it is.
The fear of God will help such friend to be loyal and respectful, he or she will be ready to fulfill promises and love to live a wholesome life.
Anyone that have the fear of God and love God will also love his friend and be a source of positive impact to his friend and that is the kind of friendship I want.
In some people it might take time to know if they fit in to the standard you want as a friend, in such case I won't address such person as my friend because if the person doesn't meet my standard I will not hesitate to delete him or her of my diary.
I will love friends who love success, who celebrate success and who encourage hard work , so they have a whole lot to bring to our table if friendship.
I have just one friend now who has the qualities I look for in a friend, infact she's more than a friend, because days I grieve she grieves with me and days I dance she rejoices with me genuinely, so anyone who wants to join us as a friend must be so transparent and have the fear and love of God.
In summary I will say that our choice of friendship has a great way to affect who we are and how people view us, so making choices of friendship is something any human should take seriously and make a good choice.
Pictures are original