The minimum requirements for friendship are courtesy and consideration.

One of my pet peeves in life is indifference in friendship. I don’t understand how some people feel that they can put their friends and family on a shelf and ignore them when they don’t want or need them, and then they go and pick them up, brush the dust off and expect them to be happy to be in their life again. I believe the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Friendship is like any other relationship; you are either in or out. It cannot be done half way.

The minimum requirements for friendship are courtesy and consideration. It might be hard for some people to understand the difference so I will list them below.

According to Dictionary.com #Consideration: thoughtful or sympathetic regard or respect; thoughtfulness for others. #Courtesy - excellence of manners or social conduct; polite behavior. 

Consideration has more depth, it involves feelings, thoughtfulness. When we care about someone, we are considerate. We care about their feelings and needs. Courtesy, on  the other hand, although there can be some consideration in an expression of courtesy, it's not the same thing as being considerate, as what was before, not as much emotional involvement or thought as actually doing it because we feel concerned and are thoughtful

We might (hopefully) be courteous to a stranger but we should be courteous as well as considerate to our friends and family. If we ignore our friends and family, yet, be #attentive to strangers, what does it say about us or about our relationship?  You know the saying ‘Your words might hurt me but your silence will destroy me, ‘it might not destroy us per se but it definitely will destroy the trust, the respect and the love within our relationship.

So, next time before you decided to put your friends on the shelves or on hold so you can pursue your latest contest, consider if it worth losing your friendship. We should give our relationship a great deal of thought and consideration before we threw it away like a dirty rug.