How to Know If You Should Fix a Broken Friendship?

Video Transcript

"I'm Joe Cuenco with Family Resources. Today we're going to be answering the question, when is the time to bring Tim the Toolman in to fix a friendship? Specifically, how do we know if we should fix a broken friendship? Friendships are living and breathing things. They require attention, nurturing and care. And friendship is actually a two way street. It requires give and take and it's - something that is built for mutual benefit. Other friendships can involve - the best situation is when you have a lover and that is your best friend. That typically will build towards a long term relationship and perhaps a marriage. But there are other types of friendships. Could be a workplace relationship, or it could be a friendship of necessity. Where you're maybe not soul mates, or real deep friends, but you have to be together a certain perspective. Or it could be political. You may have a friendship because there have to be agendas to be served. But you need to think about what you are actually getting out of the relationship. It is a two way street. True friendships exist if you can count true friendships you've had in your life, on one hand, and most people can, it really becomes something that you really can treasure, if you can count that many. These are people that will be there at any time for you, at any location, and hopefully you will do the same for them, 'cause that's really the measure of a true friendship. But if you've gone down the path and you've had a relationship like this and you're trying to mend that, you've got to evaluate what actually was the catalyst for breaking down the friendship. Work to resolve the issues, have a communication, have a dialogue and try to get back on track. Recognize there are folks that you don't need in your life that really only want to take, and it's a one way street where friendship is a two way street, and if you've got somebody that you honestly can work towards and build a mutual friendship relationship for a long term, then that typically is something that will last a lifetime. True friendship will last and survive any issue and any geography and any time. So it may not be an easy decision to break off a friendship, but it's easy to build one if you have the right people working on it. That's how we know when to fix a broken relationship, I'm Joe Cuenco with Family Resources, Relationships for Life."