7 Signs You're Being a Bad Friend ...

It's one thing to have to cancel every so often for good reasons, but constant flaking-out is one of the sure fire signs you're being a bad friend. There's nothing more frustrating for a friend than to have you tell them at the last second that you've changed your plans. Once this becomes far too common, your friends will stop bothering to invite you to things because they'll figure you'll continue to ditch them each time.

This one's pretty obvious. Your friends should be able to depend on you and know that their information is safe with you, but if you tell others their trusted stories, they won't feel safe sharing anything with you anymore. I once read a quote that said, "Those who gossip with you will gossip of you." Break the trend of gossiping and surround yourself with friends who won't gab about others, and be sure to do the same.

It's important to keep things even in a friendship. If you have friends who offer to do things for you or who are constantly doing little favors for you, always be sure to return the favor. Not offering to help your friends or not stepping in during a time of need is quite selfish. Instead, go above and beyond the call of duty for your friends to really show them how much of a keeper you are.

We get it. Everyone is super busy nowadays with work, school, family, relationships, etc. But failing to reach out to a friend even with a simple text is pretty rotten. Sometimes friendships drift apart, and that's understandable, but if a friend is constantly reaching out to you and you don't ever call or text them, you might want to change that bad habit.

Sometimes there are certain things or conversations that happen in a friendship that will cause an argument, but if you're the type of person to start a fight at the drop of a hat, you may want to step back and take a breather. In friendships, you really need to choose your battles. Not every little thing is worth starting a spat over, so be sure to think before you speak.

Sometimes there's instances where you just want to have a dinner with one or two friends, but constantly making plans without a certain friend or two is just plain mean. Be sure to extend the invitation, and they'll be more likely to do the same with you.

Each of the previous sections have covered selfishness in a way, but in general, be sure not to focus only on yourself. Sure, it's important to take care of yourself and your own needs, but if you're constantly picking the restaurant or activity that you and your friends do, making your friends cater to whatever's most convenient for you, or always putting your needs before theirs, you really need to reconsider this behavior. People enjoy the company of others who are capable of going with the flow and keeping a balanced relationship. Make sure to be flexible and fair with your friends.

We're all guilty of doing one or more of these actions from time to time, but doing them constantly, or worse, doing ALL of them, is really a problem. After reading this post, we hope that you've been able to reflect a bit on yourself and how you behave in your friendships. Strive to maintain friendships that withstand the test of time, and know that being a good friend is almost always returned back to you. Do you recognize any of these signs?