▶ Your Answer :
Undoubtedly, having friends plays a significant role in people’s daily lives in many places where they work or play. Some people think that it is better to have friends who are similar to them than those who are different from them, while others do not. Both sides may have their own reasons to support their views. If I were asked to choose one, I would say that it is better to have friends who are different from me. There are several reasons as follows.
To begin with, When people have friends who are different from them, it can contribute to an increase in their overall happiness. It provides them more chances to experience something different from what they would do in their usual routine. A new experience is likely to prevent them from feeling bored in life. For example, when my sister was in high school, she often felt depressed thinking that her life became an exhausting routine. To survive in a competitive world, she spent the whole day studying all academic subjects, hoping that she could outdo others. Although she made constant effort, it was not easy because everyone was working as hard as she was. It was difficult to make friends who are similar to her since all of them seemed busy and indifferent to others, treating each other as rivals. Fortunately, she was able to deal with such pressure and stress after spending some time with friends from Ethiopia. She started to learn about their cultures and languages. In the beginning, she felt uncomfortable by their behavior, such as eating meal with bare hands. But she got used to this cultural difference. She realized that we just had different eating styles, and we had a lot in common in a way that we all cared about our family and friends, were committed to relationships, and got easily hurt by what others say. She no longer feel awkward and can make friends who are different from her. By doing this, she was able to let off some steam. If she had friends who are similar to her, she would not have been able to escape her boring life.
All in all, the advantage of having friends who are different from them far outweigh those of having friends who are similar to them for these reason I mentioned above. |