"You must be so similar to her for you to be that close!"

"It must be hard being friends with someone so different from you! How do you do it?"

We have all heard this before. People joke all the time about how close friends are basically the same person because they don't have arguments about things that most other people do.

I've heard people say the easiest way to be friends with a person is when you both have the same interests and the same personality type so there won't be clashes in your personality types. However, there are many people out there who won't be a personality type that you usually are friends with.

There are people who are different from you and have different styles of being friends with a person. Relationships, like many other things, is a spectrum and you might not adhere to one side of it. It is different for each person and it is hard to be friends with people who do not share your fundamental views.

But that does not mean that you can't be friends with them.

But also that doesn't mean that you can be friends with them.

I firmly believe that people, who are willing to make an effort, can be friends with each other but only if you respect each other's boundaries.

If a person has a different way of dealing with certain things like studying or emotions, it's their way of dealing with it and you have to respect that because people will not change for you and you shouldn't expect that.

Don't go into any relationship, platonic or romantic, expecting them to compromise for you if you aren't willing to do it back.

Personally, I feel that you can't force a person to become how you want them to be and the best way to stay close to a person is by honest communication and respect.

It is important to take time and talk to your relationships and realizing if you are pushing boundaries or not.

I would be friends with a person who has drastic differences in personality if they are willing to respect my opinions like I would in turn. It's almost as if disagreements don't define a relationship.

A strong relationship isn't about how many things you agree on but on how much respect you have for each other's opinions and perspectives. You can't expect someone to be friends with you if you aren't willing to respect their choices and their opinions, no matter how you may feel personally.

Each person is different but we all want the same thing: we want to be heard and respected.

So next time, you get in a conversation with someone about relationships, think about how you would deal with things and how much respect you are willing to give and talk then because people are different, but if they are willing to make the effort, they will be friends with you (and if they aren't? Then, it's not someone you wanted to have a relationship with, in the first place).