One of my friends just called me out on something and we had such a healthy conversation about both of our perspectives. We both took accountability for our part in the issue and created a plan for mitigation.

If your friends can’t lovingly call you out, and you can’t have healthy conversations about issues within the friendship without defensiveness and evasion of accountability, is it really a healthy friendship?

The reality is this, it’s not always that one person is wrong and the other is right. Many times it’s about differing perspectives, different approaches and different ways of handling issues.

But there must be communication, and each side must feel as if they have been given the space to express their feelings and thoughts freely. Each side must feel as if they are truly understood and their feelings are respected...

Then each side must commit to an agreement that works well for both, and be willing to compromise and accept that though the plan may not be exactly what they envisioned it is what works best for both.

If the friendship is of value to you, it will be more important that you find something that works to maintain it, than something that works to maintain your all around comfort or “norm”.

Friendships are hard work & require compromise, but they are so worth it