▶ Your Answer :
Undoubtedly, friend plays a vital role in
people’s daily lives in many of the places where they work or play. Some people
think that having friends who are similar to them is better 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 people
can benefit more from having different friends. There are several reasons as follows.
To
begin with, when people have different friends who are different from them,
they can mingle well with people from different backgrounds. It exposes them to
different lifestyles, customs and cultures. Such exposure is likely to help
them to acknowledge that different values exist, to understand this diversity
and to ultimately be comfortable with it. For example, Tokyo University found a
huge difference between two groups of young adults. One group consisted of
those who spent two hours a week meeting foreign friends and the other group
was made up of those who did not. The researchers found that the former was
more likely to have a higher level of open-mindedness than the latter. In
particular, the first group respected foreigners, befriended them and treated
them equally. On the other hand, the second group tended to ignore foreigners, single
them out and discriminate against them. This implies that making different
friends can expand their horizons on a global level. Without being open-minded,
one would fail to live in harmony.
In
addition, different friends can contribute to an increase in their overall
happiness. It gives them a chance to experience something different from what
they would do in their usual routine. A new experience tends 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. However, she has changed little
by little after joining badminton club with friends from different countries.
She started to learn about other cultures and their languages by playing
badminton together. By doing this, she was able to let off some steam. If she
had only stuck to her own kind, she would not have been able to escape her
boring life.
All
things considered, I firmly believe that the advantages of having different
friends far outweigh those of having similar friends for the reasons I have
mentioned above. All in all, the importance of making different friends cannot
be overestimated in the pursuit of happiness in life. |