I have come to the conclusion that true friendships are hard to find and all include the key ingredients of time, commitment and situational aspects.

Time
Friendships grow slowly and the really strong ones usually takes years to build. I found this out when moving to a different country. The new friends that I made were so much more important and significant to me, who barely had a social circle. Compared to the friends I made, who were still living in their hometown and very much had their social circle intact still.

Commitment
Like most relationships, friendships take commitment. You have to work at it, keep yourself involved with each other and actually stay in contact. Sometimes this may be harder than it looks because friendships are never an equal tango and normally one person will be bearing the brunt of the work.

Situational aspects
Sometime a friendship can only go so far, something in the situation will make the friendship crumble - an argument that you can't get past, someone that can't forgive a past indiscretion, an ocean placing you in different countries or a change in interest/work creating a divide. Sometimes these situational aspects will pull you apart - again if one person in the friendship finds this too hard...


All these components need to be there and working in humming harmony in order to brew the potion called true friendship.