Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Amazing Friendships: How to Make and Keep Good Friends the Friendcraft? Way!
    Amazing Friendships: How to Make and Keep Good Friends the Friendcraft? Way!
    Amazing Friendships: How to Make and Keep Good Friends the Friendcraft? Way!
    Ebook119 pages2 hours

    Amazing Friendships: How to Make and Keep Good Friends the Friendcraft? Way!

    By Paul Barrass

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    What is a friend?

    The lines are blurring in today's fast-paced world. Is the person who sits in the office next to you a friend? How about that schoolmate with whom you exchange holiday cards? And what about the person you "met" last night in an online chat room?

    Paul Barrass, a noted mental health and personal development professional, shows you how to determine a true friend from a fair-weather friend. He takes an in-depth look at friendships and explains the steps to making friends, building friendships, and getting free of people who don't support you. And, he shows you secrets about finding and keeping the best friend you'll ever have!

    The Friendcraft method of making and keeping friends was developed for the exclusive purpose of helping you build a personal community of friends on a solid foundation. Filled with tips, insights and hands-on activities, Amazing Friendships: How to make and keep good friends the Friendcraft way! is jam-packed with everything you need to know about making friends.

    This book reveals: The real secret to making friends and keeping friendships strong The different types of friendships and why we need all of them How to be a good friend The keys to being your own best friend How to build a happier and more satisfying life through friendships Ways to keep friendships strong across time and distance How to detect toxic friends and how to gently get rid of them Why the Friendcraft method is different and how you can incorporate these lessons into your own life - today!

    North American Edition

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateFeb 12, 2007
    ISBN9781412202640
    Amazing Friendships: How to Make and Keep Good Friends the Friendcraft? Way!
    Author

    Paul Barrass

    Paul Stuart Barrass has spent more than twenty-five years in the British National Health Service as a mental health and personal development professional. Currently, he works with patients and caregivers and develops programs that demystify subjects such as dementia, coping with change, leadership skills, and personal development. He enjoys reading, steam railways, historical studies and meeting friends old and new as he travels widely teaching and writing more about the Friendcraft Way. He and his wife, Shirley, and their Jack Russell Terrier live in Derbyshire, England.

    Related authors

    Related to Amazing Friendships

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      10 Things Men Need To Know

      Apr 23, 2021

      10 Things Men Need To Know
      3 min read

    • Article

      Your Greatest You

      Jul 25, 2019

      Your Greatest You
      6 min read

    • Article

      6 Secrets Of Forever Couples

      Sep 10, 2019

      6 Secrets Of Forever Couples
      3 min read

    • Article

      Pillow Talk

      Aug 26, 2022

      Pillow Talk
      4 min read

    • Article

      Nature Notes

      Jan 30, 2020

      Nature Notes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Four New Friendship Novels and the Ties That May Not Bind

      Apr 3, 2019

      We grow into our friendships as we grow into our books—the ideals crack, what is lost can be more powerful than what is gained, and what is gained is never absolute. The post Four New Friendship Novels and the Ties That May Not Bind appeared first on

      5 min read

    • Article

      I Used to Give Men Mercy

      Feb 12, 2018

      I Used to Give Men Mercy
      12 min read

    • Article

      Everything Is A Practice

      Dec 30, 2021

      If this is the year you want to take up yoga, then you’ve made a great choice! Yoga is the perfect way to keep on top of everyday life; it’s good for your body, mind and soul. No one regrets rolling out their mat and doing a short practice, even just

      1 min read

    • Article

      Falling Out With Friends

      Jan 15, 2023

      Falling Out With Friends
      6 min read

    • Article

      “My Friends Aren’t Interested In My Life”

      Mar 31, 2020

      Q I have a core group of six friends I’ve known for years. We have been on holiday together and used to spend weekends together and they were always the people I would meet for drinks after work. I thought we had lots in common but whenever we meet u

      2 min read

    • Article

      Find Your Tribe

      Feb 17, 2023

      Find Your Tribe
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dating After Divorce

      Jan 10, 2024

      Dating After Divorce
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gifts of gratitude

      Feb 23, 2020

      Gifts of gratitude
      1 min read

    • Article

      Elizabeth Day Confessions Of A Friendship Addict!

      Nov 20, 2023

      What is the secret to being a good friend? And how many friends should we have? Acclaimed author, journalist and podcaster Elizabeth Day, 45, became addicted to friendship in a way that started to impact her physical and psychological health. It wasn

      2 min read

    • Article

      Gifts Of Gratitude

      Feb 12, 2020

      Gifts Of Gratitude
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Amazing Friendships

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Amazing Friendships - Paul Barrass

      Copyright 2006 Paul Barrass.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      Note for Librarians: A cataloguing record for this book is available from Library and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

      ISBN 1-4120-7226-3

      ISBN 978-1-4122-0264-0 (ebook)

      Image332.JPG

      Offices in Canada, USA, Ireland and UK

      Book sales for North America and international:

      Trafford Publishing, 6E—2333 Government St.,

      Victoria, BC V8T 4P4 CANADA

      phone 250 383 6864 (toll-free 1 888 232 4444)

      fax 250 383 6804; email to orders@trafford.com

      Book sales in Europe:

      Trafford Publishing (UK) Limited, 9 Park End Street, 2nd Floor

      Oxford, UK OX1 1HH UNITED KINGDOM

      phone +44 (0)1865 722 113 (local rate 0845 230 9601)

      facsimile +44 (0)1865 722 868; info.uk@trafford.com

      Order online at:

      trafford.com/05-2121

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

      Contents

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      1   INTRODUCTION TO THE FRIENDCRAFT WAY

      2   THE JOURNEY INTO FRIENDSHIP

      3   WHAT IS A FRIEND?

      4   BEING YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND

      5   THE FRIENDCRAFT MODEL

      6   MAKING FRIENDS

      7   CULTIVATING FRIENDSHIPS

      8   KINDS OF FRIENDSHIPS

      9   FALSE FRIENDS

      10   BOUNDARIES AND STRUCTURE IN FRIENDSHIPS

      11   MUTUAL SUPPORT AND EFFORT

      12   COMMUNITY AND BELONGING

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      A book like this one does not just happen. I would like to acknowledge the kind assistance of the people who believed in my ideas and who helped me to communicate them.

      Firstly, my lovely wife, Shirley, who supported me through the writing and editing process.

      My close friend and collaborator, Mary Ann Chang, who has been the source of so much inspiration and support in developing the Friendcraft Way.

      My editor, Melanie Rigney, for her very professional guidance in matters of form and presentation.

      To those people who have warmed the journey of my life with their friendship, I give a sincere thank you. You are too numerous to mention by name, but I treasure the times we have spent together and look forward to much more of your company as we journey on.

      1 

      INTRODUCTION TO THE FRIENDCRAFT WAY

      Image339.JPG

      Activity One

      Why Are You Reading This Book?

      Friendship is a vitally important subject for us all. The people in our lives have a major impact on our happiness and satisfaction. We may not have much choice about our relatives, but we certainly can choose our friends. Sadly, too many people just allow their friendships to grow casually and then become disappointed and disillusioned when things don’t work out and people let them down. This happens because they have not used the principles of what I call Friendcraft in making, sustaining, and enhancing their friendships. They have left the development of this vital area of life to the winds of chance.

      This book is for anyone who is serious about having good friends in life, and that should be everyone. This is a book that should speak to your heart. This is a book that should speak to your mind. This is a book that may speak to your spirit, for it is about what makes you you. You are a unique and special person. Why would you want to give the gift of your friendship to people who abuse, neglect, or misuse it? And yet, millions of people do this all the time.

      Friendship is a very personal thing. Your friendship is something to be valued. It is not something to be casually given away. Nor is it a thing to be taken for granted. You can decide whom to have as friends and how those friendships can develop in ways that will be positive both for you and those you honor with your friendship. I will say more about this in the chapters that follow.

      I have spent twenty-five years as a therapist in the British National Health Service working with staff, patients, caregivers, and others who have failed to make the friendship connection in their lives. I have spent over twenty-five years counseling friends, colleagues, and people from volunteer groups who have similarly failed to appreciate the need to consciously make life-enhancing friendship choices. My experience led me to develop a system that I call Friendcraft. It transformed my life. I recommended it to others, and it transformed their lives, and I finally have been persuaded to recommend it to you. It is my gift to you. I hope it enables you to make life-enhancing choices so that your friendships can be sources of happiness, fulfillment, and joy for you. This comes with understanding the journey of friendship and how the art of Friendcraft can help you be the person you want to be and have the friends you would like to have.

      Friendcraft gives us a positive and realistic way of looking at our friendships. It puts you in the driver’s seat in making and developing your friendships at whatever level you choose. It is a special and unique system that will enable you to take control in finding, developing, and nurturing those friendships that will become a welcome part of your life.

      If you read this book, think about what it contains, and apply its principles, beneficial changes will take place in your life and in the lives of those you influence through your friendships. I believe that you are a special and unique person and that your friendship is one of the most precious gifts that you can bestow.

      In this book, we shall look at the concepts and subtleties of the Friendcraft approach. We will talk about the levels of friendship and define who is a close friend as opposed to a casual friend or a social acquaintance or a business acquaintance or somebody with whom we have some important but limited contact. We will look at these layers of friendship and how they add up to make a satisfying and supportive personal community. We will consider how we meet friends and how we allow them into our lives. Sometimes it is a question of whether we have allowed them in or they have intruded for their own purposes. I call people in the latter category false friends and, indeed, we will look at them in detail as well.

      We expect different things from our different kinds of friends. For example, if you have a friend you consider a casual friend or acquaintance, somebody with whom you merely exchange a few greetings, you would not be sharing with him or her the important details of major events that are happening in your life except on the most superficial level.

      I work with many people, most of whom do not know when it is my birthday. They certainly would not dream of buying me a birthday present any more than I would dream of buying them one. But at a major holiday such as Christmas, they may send me a card and I may send them one with nothing more than a casual greeting inside. With those who are closer friends, I might remember birthdays and share personal news in Christmas cards. But the most intimate and most challenging or even most joyous things I share only with those very few people who form the innermost circle of my very special friends.

      We can think of the Friendcraft model of friendships as an archery target, with you as the goal (bull’s-eye) surrounded by your most intimate and inner circle of friends, who probably can be numbered on the fingers of one or two hands, at the center. In concentric rings outward are other kinds of friends, from the close to the casual to the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1