Why Friendships Are Your Best Investment
"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." Helen Keller
When you think of friendships, what comes to mind for you? Do you feel joy rise up inside, sadness, hurt, rejection, hope, respect, harmony, or trust? Do you immediately think of those male or female friends that touched your life? Do you wonder how you impacted their life? Take time to take an inventory….every person who crosses your path is for a purpose (even if we don’t know it at the time).
FUN FACT: Did you know studies show most adults have only one or two close friends beyond their significant others? For many, the top of our life priority list might look something like this: family, work—maybe exercise. Time with our friends can sometimes end up near the bottom.
CHEERS TO FRIENDS!!
If I offered you a pill to live longer and have a more fulfilling life, would you take it? Believe it or not, friendships can extend your life expectancy! Friendships ignite the part of the brain that makes you feel good, which makes you want to keep hanging out with your friends.
Friendships Are Good For Your Health - A circle of friends can decrease your risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. It can decrease feelings of loneliness.
Friendships Create Healthy Choices – Friendships can encourage you to make lifestyle changes that overall affect your well-being like healthy eating and exercising together. Friendships help you set and maintain goals and support you in choosing other healthy relationships.
Friendships Add Variety – My personality is one to organize and plan everything. So I have learned to welcome those friends that are spontaneous, free spirit…those who are opposite of me. I have learned so much about me and about life by having a variety of friends.
Friendships Are Confidence Builders – we all need someone to say “I believe in you,” or “You can do this.” Friendships provide the confidence you need during difficult times or encourage you to take that risk. If you are feeling low, encourage one of your friends…you will be amazed at how pouring into them will overflow onto you.
Friendships Point You To Your Future– each friendship, whether for a reason, season, or lifetime is a link to something in your future and you for them!
❓What kind of friend are you? Take inventory of the gifts and talents you bring to your friendships and vice versa. Are you open to different kinds of friendships?
REASON, SEASON, AND LIFETIME
Friendships change and evolve over time because you change. Some friendships stay together through those life changes and others move on. Is it bad? NO! I try to look back and ask myself what was the good that came from the friendship, how did I grow from it and what value did I bring to the friendship?
REASON - friends who come alongside of you to support you when you are experiencing a life transition. The other person may be on the same path and is experiencing the same changes as you. Let’s say you meet someone in a weight loss group. You support each other and encourage each other on this weight loss journey. Then, they move on.
SEASON - friends who are in your life for a period of time to teach or share lessons with you or help you discover something about yourself (and vice versa). I feel this season can last a short amount of time or longer. You may have experienced this in your high school or college years. You were together for a season. Perhaps you are a new mom, and you join a “new moms’ group” to join others on this journey.
LIFETIME - these relationships are just that…lifetime. They teach us lifetime lessons—things you can build upon to have a solid foundation. These friendships love and accept you for all that you are and are not, they walk your journey with you no matter what it looks like. Some people have lifetime friendships and connect frequently while others connect a few times a year.
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” Woodrow Wilson
FUN FACTS ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS
✅Social Isolation in America reports that in the last 30 years, we’ve all gone from having 3 close friends to having 0 - 1.
✅In the past 25 years, studies have shown that friendships slash your risk of mortality in half, double your chances of recovering from depression, and make you 4.2 times less likely to succumb to the common cold.
✅The average person will form 396 personal friendships during their lifetime. “Of the 396, only 33 of those friendships will actually last (1 in 12). Of the 33, only five of these people are considered to be a close friend, and the rest are usually categorized as social friendships.”
✅Another study showed when children hang out with their friends during a stressful situation, they produce less cortisol, a hormone released when the body is under stress.
❓Did you know best friends could have similar DNA? According to a study conducted by Yale University and the University of California at San Diego, “good friends are often genetically similar…share as much as one percent of the same gene variants. To put that into perspective, your best friend genetically is in comparison of a fourth cousin.” Hmmmm???
THIS I KNOW: Do we need a lot of friends to feel fulfilled? It is up to you, but at the end of the day, quality counts more than quantity. Though it is good to cultivate a diverse network of friends and acquaintances, you may end up feeling a greater sense of belonging and experience your friendship benefits by focusing on and nurturing those close and meaningful relationships that will support you through the unexpected “life happens” moments, the joyful times and the challenging times. Are you thinking about that friend right now?
If you find yourself lacking in the friendship department, consider joining a small group at a church, taking a community class, joining a group that has similar likes (travel, theater, cooking, book club), or perhaps just striking up a conversation with a stranger at your local coffee shop.
CHEERS TO YOUR FRIENDSHIPS!!!
