Loyalty in friendship is as important as in every romantic relationship.
It is one of the most significant pillars that keeps any relationship from falling apart.
All of us talk about the loyalty of our partner but we rarely mention the importance of loyalty in friendship.
If you think about it, you will realize that there is actually no friendship without loyalty.
How? Well, let’s see…
Loyalty is all about support and being there for your friend, whenever he or she needs it.
No matter how hard times get, a loyal friend will always stay by your side.
You can end a relationship with your boyfriend and a loyal friend will appear at your door with your favorite snacks, a ton of ice cream, and a shoulder to cry on.
You may have recently lost a close family member.
A loyal friend will be there for you and make sure that you are not going through the grief and sadness all alone.
Loyalty in friendship is about helping the other person become the best version of themselves.
It’s about being there for them, no matter how difficult it is, and helping them overcome all of the obstacles in their way in order to get to their final goal.
So, yes, loyalty in friendship is highly important and there is nothing that can replace it.
When that pillar is missing, everything can easily fall apart, no matter how hard you struggle to make things work.
The same with trust, loyalty is also hard to get but easy to lose.
You can do a hundred things right, but once you take one wrong step, everything good is canceled out and you have high chances of risking the feeling of loyalty in your friend’s heart.
What does loyalty in friendship look like?
I could give you all of the possible definitions of loyalty in friendship and it wouldn’t make any sense to you until I showed it through examples of what it is actually supposed to look like.
To different people, loyalty can mean different things, but in general, the idea is the same.
There are some general things that reflect loyalty in friendship and here’s how you can recognize them.
Loyal friends support each other.
If you have a friend who is always there for you and supports you no matter what then you know what loyalty in friendship looks like.
A loyal friend will always be there for you to cheer you up and to let you know that they believe in you.
You will feel support shining out of them and you will be able to do whatever you want because you know that someone is cheering for you.
Whatever you want to try in life, a loyal friend will support you.
Sometimes, your ideas will turn into lessons, and sometimes, they will end up being amazing experiences.
No matter what, you will always have a friend by your side who will help you make things work. They will be your biggest and loudest support.
When everyone else leaves, a loyal friend will stay by your side to help you with all of the obstacles life has thrown at you.
So, the next time you are in great need of support, look around.
Those who remain in your close proximity working with you and not against you are your loyal friends.
Everyone else is just pretending and will run away once things get difficult.
Loyal friends are honest with each other.
It is easy to find people who will tell you the things you would love to hear. Anyone can do that.
But when you find those who tell you both the good and the bad honestly, that’s when you know what loyalty in friendship feels like.
A loyal friend will always be honest with you. Sometimes, you won’t like the truth, but it will be good for you to hear and your friend will know that.
Only that way can you move on and improve your life.
If you keep listening to fake friends who only tell you the things you want to hear, without honesty or the harsh truth, you will always be stuck in one place.
No matter how hard you try, you will be unable to move on. So, if you want to know whether your friends are loyal to you, just listen to their words.
Do they say things just to make you feel better or is it their intention to help you progress in life?
Loyal friends will tell you when you are doing well. However, they will also make sure to let you know when you are doing things wrong.
That is how real friendship works, and anything else is just an attempt at pretending to be a friend.
Loyal friends overcome the issues that appear from time to time.
We all know that life isn’t a fairy tale without issues. Instead, it is a wild stormy sea with periods of both calm and calamity.
That’s why you only need those friends who will be willing to help you overcome every issue that occurs between the two of you.
You will fight from time to time and that is okay.
Nevertheless, loyal friends will be willing to work on their problems, without blaming each other for their mistakes.
Loyal friends know that the only way to make things work is by giving an equal amount of effort and solving the issues together.
Without that, your friendship is doomed to fail and you can be sure then that you don’t know what loyalty in friendship looks like.
However, if you have a friend with whom you have gone through both good and bad times, then you know how it is to have someone who is always on your side.
You may have fought many times but you always found a way to solve the problem and continue from where you left off.
With each time you solved a disagreement, your friendship became even stronger and you felt closer to each other than before.
That is the main point of friendship and that is how you know that you have stumbled upon a loyal friend who will do everything to keep you in their life.
Loyal friends share both happiness and sadness.
Even though it seems unbelievable, we live in a world where it is easier to share your sadness with someone than your happiness.
You may ask yourself HOW?!
Well, the reality is that people have become too jealous of other people’s happiness and success.
This means that a toxic friend will easily comfort you when you are sad but they will have no idea how to behave when you want to share your happiness with them.
Jealousy or envy will appear in their eyes and they won’t know how to share that joy with you.
Why would they be happy for you if you are doing better than them?
This is a philosophy that is tearing the world apart.
That’s why people have built walls around themselves to prevent resentment from coming into their lives.
We don’t always share our happiness anymore, as we are afraid of how other people will react.
So, when you find a friend who is willing to be there for you, in your times of sadness but also happiness, that’s when you will know what loyalty in friendship is supposed to look like.
When you find someone who looks even happier than you because you got your promotion, you will know that you have found yourself a loyal friend who is not pretending to be real.
Instead, their feelings are genuine, and seeing you happy can only make them feel happy too.
This may sound unbelievable in this cold-hearted world filled with jealousy.
Loyal friends stand up for each other.
Throughout your life, you will meet all kinds of people. Some will be amazing and they will help you through life more than you expected.
Others will seem nice but they will only be wearing a mask of an angel.
These ones are toxic, will talk behind your back all the time, tell others your secrets, and will also spread lies.
There is nothing weird about that anymore, as it is seen as normal.
However, if your life is filled with loyal friends who have your back, you will understand what real friendship is supposed to look like.
Whenever someone tries to talk badly about you, a loyal friend will be there to protect you.
They will stop those people from telling lies about you and they will make sure to tell the truth.
It doesn’t matter whether you are around or not, they will make sure to let everyone know how things really are.
They will protect you even when they feel that you are not right.
But instead of letting everyone know that, they will talk to you in private and tell you what is bothering them.
A loyal friend will never talk badly about you in front of other people. That’s what private talks are for.
So, if you want to know what loyalty in friendship looks like then pay close attention to the actions of your friends.
Do they protect you in the company of others or do they trash-talk you when you are not around?
It can be easy to tell.
If you hear rumors that your ‘best friend’ has been talking badly about you, then you should reconsider your friendship with that person.
Things are not always the way people try to present them so you need to be careful with whom you trust.
Loyal friends always have time for each other.
I know that life can get busy and sometimes you don’t even have time for yourself, so how can you have time for a friend?
Well, no matter how busy your schedule gets, a loyal friend will always find time for their friend in need.
They find time to check on them, to see how they are doing, or simply to stop by and engage in a fifteen-minute chat.
These things mean so much and loyal friends understand their importance.
So, we could say that loyalty in friendship is when you make time for your friend, no matter how full your schedule is.
Even them quickly stopping by your house means a lot when you need someone to talk to.
The moment they see that you are not doing well, a loyal friend will appear at your door and hug you tight without even asking whether something is wrong.
You know how they say that we always make time for what is important? It’s the same with friendship.
When you have a friend who means a lot to you, you will show them that. Sometimes, it will be hard but it won’t ever be impossible.
Remember that the next time you are in desperate need of a friend to talk to and no one is picking up the phone or making an effort to come by.
Loyal friends respect each other.
Loyalty in friendship is not about having the same opinions and spending time together because of that.
Instead, it is about having different points of view but still respecting the other person.
No matter how much their opinions differ, a loyal friend will always be respectful of the other person’s thoughts, beliefs, wishes, and dreams.
That is how real friendship works.
They will also respect each other’s boundaries. A loyal friend will never push you into something if they know that you are not comfortable with it.
You know what you want from life and your friend will appreciate your decisions.
At any point, you won’t feel that they are making you do things you don’t want to do.
They will never go against your values or beliefs because they know how much they mean to you.
Any other way of treating you is disrespectful and has nothing to do with loyalty in friendship.
Loyal friends inspire you to become the best version of yourself.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone after which you had an epiphany?
You felt like a wiser person and something inside of you screamed, “I want to be just like them!”
You thought about their words and they simply couldn’t escape your mind.
So, you made a promise that you would work on yourself and make yourself a better person, no matter how much effort it took.
If the answer is no, then you need to find yourself a friend who makes you feel like this.
And if the answer is yes, then congratulations, you have just made your life better.
When you find a loyal friend, you will most definitely get a feeling like this, as loyal friends always inspire us to become better people.
It’s about those phrases, “You can do it!” and, “I believe in you,” which simply raise hope in us and make us chase our goals.
You will see how amazing they are coping with their own life and their issues and you will simply feel a need to be like them.
They won’t make you feel that you NEED to change something in order to improve your life.
Instead, they will make you WANT to change so you can live a better life, for your own good.
Loyal friends love you for everything you are.
We all know our flaws and we are tired of meeting people who continually point them out, without even thinking of the impact they make on us.
So, when you stumble across that friend who makes you feel loved for everything that you are and everything that you aren’t, you can’t feel anything but happiness.
It’s like they’re wearing special glasses when they’re looking at you, as it seems that all of your flaws have been erased.
They simply don’t see them, and instead, they only see the good parts. Even your flaws become good, as they make you the person you are.
And is there anything better than not having to hide who you are?
To be able to let your personality shine without being afraid that your ‘best friend’ will run away when they see the truth?
Loyalty in friendship is not about running away when things get hard.
Instead, it is about being there, next to your friend, no matter how scary things look.
A loyal friend will make you feel that you are valued and cared for.
You will have someone who will talk to you in the middle of the night when you are not feeling well.
You will have someone who will support your dreams and wishes and who will always protect you from the bad words of bad people.
Loyal friends will know what you are capable of and they will make sure you become what you always dreamed of.
You will never be alone, as that someone will always come over and give you a shoulder to cry on when things get difficult.
How to be a loyal friend?
What you give, you will receive. That is the whole point of life.
You can’t expect to give nothing and to get everything in return. That is not how things work, and that is not how friendship works.
So, if you want to know what loyalty in friendship feels like, you first need to be that loyal friend. You need to give something if you want to receive it.
Maybe you’ve been thinking of effective ways that can help other people see you as loyal. If that’s the case then you have come to the right place.
I will give you a list of the three most important things you need to be capable of doing if you want other people to see you as loyal and consequently, they will start treating you like that.
1. Be honest and don’t try to hide the truth
We sometimes think that it is better for us to hide the truth than to really say what we mean.
We tend to believe that people will get hurt if we shower them with honest words.
So, instead of saying what we really mean, we hide the truth and say things that we think others want to hear.
But what we don’t understand is that this can only make us look bad in the eyes of others once they find out the truth.
This can make other people feel that we are deceiving them or playing with their feelings. Others can see us as disloyal and not honest with our words.
2. Don’t talk behind people’s backs
Even if you don’t like one person in particular, you should never talk behind their back.
If you have something to say about them, say it to their face or simply keep quiet.
How can you expect people to see you as a loyal person if they know that you have been talking badly behind people’s backs?
You would never trust someone who behaved like that, right?
Then know that the same applies to you.
3. Keep your promises
No one will see you as a loyal person if you show them that you don’t know how to keep your promises. So, every time you make a promise, you should also make sure to keep it.
Actions always speak louder than words. People will see everything you are (not) doing and they will compare it to the words you have been saying.
If there is conflict between the two, don’t expect that others will treat you as a loyal person.
As you can see, loyalty plays a very important role in friendship. If it is not present, everything else can easily fall apart.
There are different ways people express their loyalty to a person, but in most cases, loyalty means the same thing.
It is about being honest with your friends and always treating them with respect.
You can’t expect people to show you loyalty if you are not doing the same thing.
You need to show them that they can trust you if you want to be able to trust them.
Loyalty in friendship is always about making an effort to be there, no matter how hard things get.
It is about people who stay true to you and don’t talk about you behind your back.
So, the next time you ask yourself whether your friends are treating you right, whether they are loyal and honest with you, simply look at their actions.
Their actions can reveal more to you than their words can.
After that, you will be certain about whether your friends are loyal or if it is the right time to make some changes in your circle of friends.