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This could be for a variety of reasons and almost all, in some direct or indirect way, are probably your fault. This is harsh, isnt it? But truth is very important in friendships and if we are to be friends for the time it takes you to read this article then its important I tell you how it is. If you think this is too abrasive, thats the first reason, right there, you probably dont have any friends: you cant handle the truth and lack self-awareness.

The second reason may be due to your age. If you are very young, well, youre probably not reading this. But in childhood we tend to look for friends who live close by and with whom we have common interests. So if you dont have any friends you may simply not have anyone you can pal up with yet. Thats OK, although it probably doesnt feel like it.

I spent all of my school life on the peripheries of other peoples friendships. Those with best friends seemed impossibly protected. If only Id known then that not shackling myself to any one friend could, and would, actually make me better at friendships later in life.

If you move around frequently as a child (or as an adult), you can either become very, very good at making friends (having to fit in fast, always having to play everyone elses games) or very, very bad, because you simply get fed up with not being able to put down roots.

In adolescence, trust and loyalty become very important. It can be difficult if you dont find anyone who is a kindred spirit, and it can seem as if everyone is more popular than you. As anyone who has ever befriended a teenager on Facebook will know (Facebook is dead to the young, of course, but a few still use it), they have literally thousands of friends but not necessarily many real friends.

Read more: www.theguardian.com