17 Green Flags That Prove Your Friendship Will Last A Lifetime

Some friends are only temporary – or aren’t real friends at all. But others are real ride or dies. Here are some signs your friendship is authentic, and it’s bound to last a long, long time:

“They text you first when they don’t want anything.” — SilasDeane76

“Even if you haven’t seen each other in a while you’re able to pick up right where you both left off.” — radpandaparty

“You can tell that the person is genuinely concerned or truly sad when something terrible and/or heartbreaking happens to you.” — SquirrellyRabbit

“I’ve always noticed that with new acquaintances that turned out later to become good friends of mine there’s a big focus on respect, consideration, and reciprocity from the get go. Obviously it’s cool to take turns buying lunch for each other but I’ve also hosted new friends that would clean up for me before they left while my old friends leave beer cans everywhere. That new person expressed through their actions ‘I respect you offering your home, that’s why I considered to return you at least a small favor of cleaning up my mess just because I appreciate the relationship we have.'” — Layton115

“When they don’t try to compete with you, aren’t jealous of you, truly are happy for you when good things happen to you don’t give you back handed compliments and don’t put you down. When they don’t talk bad about you behind your back. Good friends listen to you, care about you and are there by your side through good and bad times.” — Fitbarbie1

“Comfortable silence.” — beep_check

“When you’re with them and you don’t have to second guess anything or feel self-conscious. When you can just say what you want to say without rehearsing it first. (Of course, this differs depending on your level of social anxiety, but I find that in general you should feel more at ease around true friends).” — [deleted]

“They become angry on your behalf whenever someone hurts you, disrespects you, screws you over, etc., and they go into protective mode for you.” — SquirrellyRabbit

“You feel at ease around them.” — Amilase2020

“Doing things for you without any expectation of reciprocation.” — RedditRam24

“When you’re not afraid to disagree with them, because you know they’ll actually listen rather than just hurting you.” — Naweezy

“They’ll remind you of all the great things about yourself during those dark times when you can’t see such things so clearly.” — SquirrellyRabbit

“They know when something’s wrong and will check up on you to see how you’re doing.” — enselord

“When you can talk about nothing and talk about deep things. Lots of friends only have one or the other.” — kraftykitten

“When nothing you ever told them ends up as gossip.” — MorgainofAvalon

“They’ll make fun of you to your face and defend you behind your back.” — Duluthian378181

“They don’t mind being ‘inconvenienced’ by you (in other words they don’t mind helping you/ being there for you). Ex: airport rides, rides in general, driving 4 hours just to spend time with you on your birthday.” — Jazz_Xyz