In case you need convincing, having good friends is good for your health. According to Mayo Clinic “Adults with strong social connections have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index.”
How do you make (and keep) good friends?
- Spend time with people.
- Tell them what makes them lovable, admirable and special.
- Listen to them deeply.
- Have fun together.
- Learn things together.
- Be honest,
- Be vulnerable, authentic.
- Forgive with wild abandon.
- Use nonviolent language and commit to finding your way back to love.
- Love without keeping score.
- Keep showing up; keep tending the relationship.
This year, I’ve learned to see conflict as an invitation to get curious and deepen relationship, rather than as a signal there is something wrong. It is uncomfortable but doesn’t have to be fatal.
Having good friends enriches your life.
In your journal
- Savor a good friendship you have had.
- List what qualities you look for in a good friend.
- Draw friendship