If you’ve read the title, it’s as simple as that.

Well, maybe not quite. So many of us have friends whom we consider true, trustworthy, flawless human beings, when really they may be fake. I’m not saying all friends are like this, but a good majority of them are. So take time to get to know the people you hang out with before calling them a true friend. Listen instead of talk. Have them pour out to you their emotional heartbreaks or late night sob stories. If they can trust you, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to trust them.

As a senior in high school, I look back on my four years and think what an idiot I really was. I pushed away people who could have become a central part of my life, helping me through adversity and motivating me and everything else friends do. Instead, I chose the people who only seemed to be true friends. And as a result, my happiness went from 100 to 0 real quick.

I consider friends as integral parts of anyone’s life. Think of them as your better half. For anyone who has read Pride and Prejudice, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The couples who stay together are surprisingly the ones in which one person is drastically different from the other. In some cases, this can be a great benefit--you can learn from one another instead of always criticizing, saying that the other person is doing things all wrong. On the other hand, this might be a detriment...if you’re the type of person who needs someone exactly like you to make your life complete.

In any case, try it out. Make friends who are different from you, more often than not they will be the ones to stick with you till the end.