Friends...where would we be without them. Everyone needs a friend to confide in and to share experiences with. I've always taught my girls to expand their network of acquaintances and to socialize with different groups of people - to have violin friends, school friends, soccer friends. It is a healthy and necessary part of life.
The author, Gretchen Rubin, focusses the June chapter of her happiness project on this very important topic, filling the chapter with important quotes and suggestions for cultivating new and old friendships. She begins by quoting Epicurus - "Of all the things that wisdom provides for living one's entire life in happiness, the greatest by far is the possession of friendship." Everything is more enjoyable with a friend. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to exercise when you have a friend accompanying you? How much more enjoyable it is to watch TV or go to a concert with a buddy? You couldn't email or have a Facebook or Twitter account without friends. In fact, the whole premise of Facebook and Twitter is to collect friends and followers, the more the merrier. It makes us feel good and look good to others.
But, more than that, a good friend is there in times of need, to listen and to offer advice or to provide company when needed. How can one be a good friend? Several suggestions are given: remember birthdays, be generous, help people think big, bring people together, cut people slack, show up, and don't gossip. All of these strategies require time and effort to work. Who hasn't gossiped about someone and then felt awful about it? Or criticized someone without thinking about their situation? Forgotten a birthday lately? Sending a cheery message on a special day is heart-warming for all of us and we should do it more often. How do you feel when you receive a compliment? Isn't it even better to give one and watch how others respond? We need to take the time to cultivate our existing friendships, renew our old ones and challenge ourselves to meet some new people. We have nothing to lose and much happiness to gain.
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