Acquaintances vs True Friends

To me, my definition of a TRUE friend is someone

1. who will always be there for me when I am down.
2. who shares his / her happiness & woes with me and vice versa.
3. whom I can TRUST.

But my definition of a friend differs.

Acquaintances are also considered friends, but not to the extent of sharing my woes and happiness with. They can be colleagues, classmates, or schoolmates, etc. Afterall, ask yourself this.

"How did you get to know your current BEST and TRUE friend, and how did he / she become one?"

You also got to know him / her as an acquaintance in the first place isn't it? From there, you start to talk about common interests, get to know this person, etc, then it will slowly reveal whether or not this person can be your true friend.

I think the definition of a true friend is very 'valuable'. If every friend you meet meets the criteria of your TRUE friend, then of course life would be wonderful. But at the same time, I think the term 'true friend' will be devalued if every friend is considered a TRUE friend.

Boon Siew