Whether you have met your friends recently, or have known them since the good ol' days, they will always do something that will tilt your keel, and force you to ask yourself:"How well do I really know him/her?" Here are some steps to truly understanding your friend.

Get to know their family and other friends. What kind of people do they associate with? How close are they with their family? So when over at their house ask to meet their family and spend time with their other friends. If they are hesitant, remember to give them time. Spend some time alone with them before barging in on their life.
Discuss their obsessions in a nice way because they will appreciate your interest. You will get to know what makes them tick and they will get to know what makes you tick.
Read what they read, hear the music they hear, watch the movies and plays they watch, go to the places they frequent. To know a soul intimately, you have to be that soul. Yodel with them in their cowboy hats.
"When you die, what would you like engraved on your gravestone?" What does he want to be remembered as? This idealized self-image is the one he is always reaching for, and which explains a lot of his actions.
Is there some topic which makes him grossly uncomfortable? Which topic puts pauses on his normally eloquent speech? Ask yourself why. Does he have insecurities and bad family stories relating to the topic, is he trying to give a false impression?
Listen. "What we say is important... for in most cases the mouth says what the heart is full of."-Jim Beggs. The more you listen to what your friend says , the more you understand.
Try to get to know them, but dont force them to talk about themselves. It may be because they are uncomfortable with the subject you were talking about, they may think you dont care about their problems if you push them too far to talk.
Who they are with says alot about them. Especially signifacant others, spouses, or boyfiends/girlfriends. Dont put down oyur friends other friends! It is probably really annoying to them, and they will think you are self-centered (you think alot about yourself but not other people).
A corollary of the previous point: bite down on any criticism you may have. People want friends who appreciate them as they are. Listen and empathize: this will encourage your friend to speak expansively, thus resulting in a greater understanding on your part.

Shopping may be boring to some... you walk in, look around, buy stuff... Where is the fun in THAT!!!! Here are a few ideas to make shopping a BLAST!

First Idea: What Not To Wear

Invite a few people.
Go to a store in the mall
Pick a 3 tops and 3 bottoms, 2 you think are hideous and 1 you think is awesome!
Have the person you invited try to put an outfit together with the tops and bottoms you picked out
Grade her/him on everything a super model would be graded on: catwalk, outfit, personality,
Now, have the other person pick everything out for you, you try everything on, then you get graded.
Go around the mall into different stores and continue this trend.

Second Idea: Mix and Match

Get a friend and go to a mall
Get one piece of clothing at everystore you walk into
When you have more than a few outfits or hit your budget, go home
Try to make fun, funky outfits out of the mix match clothing
For fun, walk outside to see how many people like it.

Third Idea: Just Bling

Grab a friend
Go to the mall
Assign her/him to get a fun, funky outfit.. just 2 tops and 2 bottoms.
You find fun, funky jewlery
When you are done, go home and try everything on
Walk out into the streets with your fun outfit!
Warning! Make sure they know your size!

Fourth Idea: Whatever

Grab a few (3) friends
Go to the mall
Assign different stores in the mall
Get one (1) complete outfit (top,bottom,jewlery,shoes) at one (1) store
Go home
Everyone trade outfits
Warning: Make sure you are all in the same size range! And know each others' sizes!

Coconut Point Mall in Estero,Florida over 500 shopping centers, condos, and 1 movie theater, and 100 diners
Coconut Point Mall in Estero,Florida over 500 shopping centers, condos, and 1 movie theater, and 100 diners

Make sure to have fun
Make sure to know each others sizes
Make sure to wear comfortable shoes

Make sure to know each others sizes

Friends are essential to have in your life. Real friends are always there for you, to cheer you up when you're down, to have fun with you... But sometimes life can be so busy, that we may abandon a good friendship. This article will tell you how to spend more time with those really important people you may not lose!

In this century, there are tons of ways to stay in touch with your friends. Make a phone call by either calling them on their mobile phone, or calling them for free using Skype (providing your friend uses Skype too), have a video conversation via an Instant Messenger program (such as Windows Live Messenger), send them an e-mail, text them (and maybe even include MMS-pictures if you have a camera phone, show them your new puppy you just got for your birthday or your new hair style you just got). As you can see; ways enough.
Hang out with your friends. Just another boring, but sunny sunday afternoon? Call them for a hang-out in the park just 5 minutes away, invite them to watch a movie or play that new computer game, at your home.
Do fun stuff with your friends! Organise events; go to the pub to have a nice drink, go eating in a restaurant or have a delicious pizza, go to the cinema to watch a movie that you both like, go to a concert of your favourite artist that you both like, or go swimming on a hot, sunny afternoon.
Show that you need them. If you have a good friend, for example, who is kind of geeky and knows how to solve computer problems, tell him/her you got a computer problem that you cannot solve, and invite him/her. That way, you'll meeting each other again + they feel good cause they have just helped a good friend. A win-win situation.
Surprise them! One of your friends birthday tomorrow? Buy a couple of flowers, a nice gift, or a beautiful birthday card, and go visit them to wish them a very happy birthday and to give them your gift.

When watching a movie, be sure you and your friend are liking the genre of the movie. You do not want to end up with a bored friend, or even worse: ending up watching a movie you do not even like yourself. Same counts for going to a concert; you must both like the artist or music genre.
When going to the pub to have a beer or two, pay their drinks. This will stimulate your friendship.

Only buy small gifts as a birthday present. You do not want to look desperate.
Don't phone/instant message/text them every single time, you will want to meet friends in real life too, every now and then, otherwise they'll just become an "internet buddy" or "virtual buddy". Real friends do meet up!

anyone can choose their friends... but we always choose the best poeple that can help us grow. here are some of the ways that might help you get away with those nasty bad influenced friends.

Site the bad habits that these bad friends have.
try to think of a way to get away from them, sometimes it is hard to confront them that you don't want to be with them and that might cause instant enemies.
always remember, if these friends let you do bad things and let you be indulged with bad stuff then ask help from your parents.
if you are hurt or depressed because they have mistreated you, you can talk to a TRUE AND CARING FRIEND that you have. you can know them, they are simply the ones who doesn't let you do bad things. they are also the ones wh is always there for you. especially on hard times.
try to make new friends... know the type of friends you want to meet, list it down if you like. have faith in yourself, you will have caring friends, just look around you.

* love yourself first.
* spend time with yourself.
* respect yourself.
* give yourself a chance to hang-out with your family.
* if you are still a student, try concentrating on your studies first.
* make a hobby that you will surely love.

if these nasty people kept on bothering you, ask for help to the people whom you think can protect you.