Pearl Nash
It’s just unfortunate that not all people we meet are worth keeping.
And it’s not even about if they can “enrich” our lives—there are some people who can actually drag us down!
That’s why we should keep an eye out for trouble. But at the same time, we should be more open-minded, too.
Some people who don’t look like “trouble”, or who don’t look like “our kind of people”, might actually be worth keeping.
But how can you tell?
Here, in this article, I will give you the 10 types of people worth having in your life.
1) People who always try to see the good in you
You want to keep an eye out for people who always try to see and believe in the good in you.
They might act a little mean sometimes, but you can trust that they aren’t going to immediately assume the worst in you.
You can be a little moody around them and it won’t matter, because they understand that people are allowed to be human—imperfect, moody, and complicated.
They’re also the same kind of people who aren’t immediately going to believe whatever rumors they might hear about you. Instead, they try to genuinely listen to you first before making any conclusions (if they ever make any).
2) People who always choose to see your potential
They’re there to cheer you on as you learn to write or dance or train for a marathon.
They’ll always try to watch your shows and attend your games, just so that they can see you succeed.
Every single one of us has potential whether or not we feel like it. But for us to realize that, sometimes we need someone to see our potential first and stay by our side while we make something out of it. And for you, they’re precisely that person.
They can sometimes go overboard and even come off as a little annoying in their enthusiasm…but keep them close!
When the time comes when you doubt whether you’re actually going to amount to anything, trust in them and their trust in you.
3) People who try to understand how you truly feel
You might try hard to look happy, but no matter how much you pretend they can still see that you’re not well and will be there with you to help you feel better about yourself.
And in fact you can try to act tough and pretend to be someone you’re not, and they’ll still see through it and treat you no differently because of it.
More often than not, these people have been with you for a long time. And what’s so special about them is that they try to understand how you feel and evolve as a person.
And most important of all is that they don’t just turn a blind eye—they actually try to be there for you if they feel like you might need company.
4) People who call you out when they have to
Having supportive people near you is, without doubt, a good thing. But at the same time, you don’t want blind support or loyalty.
You want people who are willing to call you out when you’re about to make a horrible mistake and to call you out when you’re clearly just making excuses for yourself.
The problem is that people who can manage to keep their friends grounded while also being gentle are few and far between.
A lot of people actually “critique” but they don’t know how to do it right.
So if you ever find yourself friends with someone who can call you out without making you feel god-awful afterwards, treasure them. They can guide you to become the best version of yourself.
5) People who always try to come up with fun stuff to do
If everyone’s hungry, they’ll suggest ordering takeout from a cultural resto or visiting a classy diner instead of just dropping by McDonald’s.
If they can tell that everyone’s bored, they’ll suggest playing a fun party game like Cards Against Humanity or mention that a new movie had just been released.
And they’re thoughtful about it, too. If someone clearly is uncomfortable with joining in, they’re not going to force that person.
If you ever have someone who is like this in your life, keep them close.
They’re the people who can make even the dourest days just a little bit sunnier, and likewise make life a little bit more bearable.
6) People who genuinely lend an open ear
The thing is that when most people “listen”, what they’re actually doing is pay attention to some of the things you’ve said and then fill in the blanks with whatever feels right.
And then some people simply don’t even bother to even pretend to listen because the only thing they care about is when you’ll stop so they can finally speak and be listened to.
That’s why if you ever find someone who actually makes you feel heard, hold on to them. You’ll want them by your side as you make your way through life.
7) People who are willing to defend and rescue you
They might not always be around, and they might usually act distant and aloof… but when you’re in trouble and need their help, they’ll do whatever they can to aid you.
If they catch wind of someone trying to ruin your reputation, they’ll try to clarify things with you and then defend you.
If they see someone raring to throw their weight around and beat you up, they’re more than willing to join in and help you fight off that person.
And if you made a fool of yourself, they’d rush to you to rescue you from embarrassment.
We all need these kinds of superheroes.
So if you have one, cherish them. And as much as you can, make them feel valued in return.
8) People who make you laugh in hard times
Many of us struggle every day knowing that they’re one paycheck away from homelessness. Others struggle to find love and face heartbreak.
It’s no secret that life isn’t easy.
Dark times come often, and if we lose ourselves in that darkness, we’ll easily end up falling apart.
We need people to make our suffering just a little bit more tolerable. This is the reason why those people who can find a way to make us laugh even when things go far south are so important.
It’s rare for someone who can poke fun at hard times without being insensitive, so if you know someone like this, keep them in your life. You’ll love the joy they’ll bring to your life.
9) People who tell you the truth even if it’s not easy
The truth shouldn’t always hurt. But sometimes it does.
And when it does, you want someone who is willing to share the truth even if it isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world.
Many of us fear honest people, and for a good reason—they say things that we simply don’t want to hear sometimes.
They can’t exactly do much about that, but at least they will try to break the news to you as gently as they can.
They want to share hard truths with you so that you can do something about them, and not to hurt you needlessly.
10) People who make you feel free to be yourself
That is to say, you don’t feel guarded around them.
You don’t feel like you have to continuously suppress parts of yourself or guard the words that leave your mouth when they’re around.
Instead you feel perfectly comfortable being your genuine self around them.
There’s no cloying fear that they’ll judge you if you ever say the wrong word, or that they’ll turn on you if you lose their favor.
It’s easy to take our own personal sense of peace for granted until it’s gone… or until we’re convinced to accept its absence as normal.
That’s why it’s important to always have at least one person you can be your pure unadulterated self with.
Last words
All these traits come together to paint the picture of a true friend.
But don’t be worried even if you can’t exactly see all of them in the same person—even showing just one of the signs on this list makes them worth having around.
This also goes the other way around.
So if you want to be especially loved by the people around you, then you can try developing these personality traits.
These traits, after all, can be learned. You can always learn them if you try…but even just having one or two can definitely make you a keeper.
