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- "Stages of Friendship", written by Ed Dickerson and Bill Underwood, is a series of stages that demonstrate what goes into a friendship at different stages of the relationship, dependent on trust. As someone who wants to be able to communicate better towards friends, this is very helpful to me. They are outlined below:
- The first stage of friendship is the greeting stage. When it comes to strangers on the street, even this stage can feel vulnerable.
- Stage two is the exchange of facts and reports, as simple as “Nice day isn’t it?” or “Have you heard the latest news?”
- The third stage of friendship is the exchange of opinions and judgments. One’s opinions make one more vulnerable than the mere sharing of facts. If someone rejects my opinion, it comes a little closer to home than if they simply don’t like my choice of shirt or a fact I got off the internet.
- The fourth stage of friendship is where we become comfortable enough in a relationship that we are willing to share how we feel. To be rejected for one’s feelings is more painful than to be rejected for one’s opinions, so this is a very vulnerable step.
- Stage five is where we are comfortable enough in a relationship that we are willing to share our faults with others.
- Stage six is where we are trusting enough of another person to allow them to confront our faults. This is a very deep relationship when it occurs both ways. But often in religious contexts people feel free to confront others when they have not earned the right to do so.
- The seventh stage is total intimacy, where there are absolutely no secrets between us. This level of friendship is rare on earth if it exists at all.
- I hope whoever reads this finds it can be helpful to them as well, because let's face it: we all want to be better communicators with each other!
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