Intentional Friends

[shellebelle]

What does "intentional friends" mean to everyone?

So how many people have "intentional friends"?

Who here seek out such relationships?

How does "unconditional" work in these friendships?

[BlueFireFairy]

I looked up the definition of intentional and this is what I found:
"done with intention or on purpose; intended" or
"pointing beyond itself, as consciousness or a sign"

Definition of friends:
A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement

Definition of unconditional
"not limited by conditions"

Now with all those out of the way. What "intentional friends" means to me is that you're making the time and taking the effort to invest in another person. You know their worth and you make the effort to give to the relationship so that it will blossom and unfold.

As far as finding people like this, it's a matter of being able to see beneath the surface of a person. You can skim the surface but you ma y miss so much more.

As of recently I have went looking for these types of friendships. Now that I am older is it important to me to be surrounded by people I love and who love me.

Unconditional...hmmm...how does that work? The first thing that comes to mind is to not have expectations in regards to the other person, however if you're having an "intentional friendship" then I would think that you would have expectations. You want the other person to invest in you. You don't want to give 100% and get back only 25. That's not fair in my opinion.

So there's my

What does "intentional friends" mean to everyone?

So how many people have "intentional friends"?

Who here seek out such relationships?

How does "unconditional" work in these friendships?

[shellebelle]

"done with intention or on purpose; intended" or
"pointing beyond itself, as consciousness or a sign"
A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
"not limited by conditions"

Those would be my definitions.

Ahh yes investment - good thought -

Well some friendships are worth a 25% return but obviously like a good stock portfolio that can not be he meat of your friends.

Yet each relationship will bring a different set of investments and a changing set. I think that has to be watched like the market on a regular basis and sometimes you will have to place some accounts on hold.

I see it this way - we are all spices and though I love cumin it doesn't go in apple pie. I don't throw it out I just put it away until I am making something that needs that kind of spice and richness then I bring it out with joy - same with people!

I looked up the definition of intentional and this is what I found:
"done with intention or on purpose; intended" or
"pointing beyond itself, as consciousness or a sign"

Definition of friends:
A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement

Definition of unconditional
"not limited by conditions"

Now with all those out of the way. What "intentional friends" means to me is that you're making the time and taking the effort to invest in another person. You know their worth and you make the effort to give to the relationship so that it will blossom and unfold.

As far as finding people like this, it's a matter of being able to see beneath the surface of a person. You can skim the surface but you ma y miss so much more.

As of recently I have went looking for these types of friendships. Now that I am older is it important to me to be surrounded by people I love and who love me.

Unconditional...hmmm...how does that work? The first thing that comes to mind is to not have expectations in regards to the other person, however if you're having an "intentional friendship" then I would think that you would have expectations. You want the other person to invest in you. You don't want to give 100% and get back only 25. That's not fair in my opinion.

So there's my

[santarosie]

The only way to have a friend is to be one.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.
Elbert Hubbard

Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness.
Dag Hammarskjold

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
Robert Brault

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
Edward W. Howe

Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
Jane Austen

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
Marlene Dietrich

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
Dale Carnegie

The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?
Eugene Kennedy

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
C. S. Lewis

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
Carl Jung

Men kick friendship around like a football, but it doesn't seem to crack. Women treat it like glass and it goes to pieces.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

It isn't kind to cultivate a friendship just so one will have an audience.
Lawana Blackwell

If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends - you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue.
Alice Duer Miller

Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.
Czech Proverb

[Conly]

Being a friend is a gift that you give to both your friend and your self.

The only way to have a friend is to be one.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.
Elbert Hubbard

Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness.
Dag Hammarskjold

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
Robert Brault

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
Edward W. Howe

Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
Jane Austen

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
Marlene Dietrich

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
Dale Carnegie

The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?
Eugene Kennedy

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
C. S. Lewis

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
Carl Jung

Men kick friendship around like a football, but it doesn't seem to crack. Women treat it like glass and it goes to pieces.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

It isn't kind to cultivate a friendship just so one will have an audience.
Lawana Blackwell

If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends - you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue.
Alice Duer Miller

Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.
Czech Proverb