When you are a child starting school, you begin to meet other kids, making friends. During this time everyone is your friend, and the little fights are usually related to toys. As you continue to grow older in grade, middle, and high school, you meet friends but then there comes a point of teasing and formation of cliques which often leads to self-esteem issues, having negative thoughts about your personality or appearance.
After exiting adolescence and entering young adulthood, your friends change as you meet people in college, at work, or even at the bar. You may have lots of people to hang out with because this is a time of limited personal responsibilities. Once you enter full adulthood, life changes as you may be starting a new career, moving to a new city, starting long term relationships, getting married, or having kids. All these activities reduce your access to friends and sometimes you go weeks, months, or years in between meet ups because life pulls you in different directions. With this month being self-care awareness month, this week’s task is to:
MEET UP/CALL/RECONNECT WITH SOMEONE MEANINGFUL TO YOUR LIFE
The older a person gets, the harder it is to find a good friend, so when you have one or more you should put effort into holding on to them because studies show having them are important to your emotional and physical health. Also note, family members can be considered friends as well; not everyone gets along with their family but if you’re lucky to have good family members whose supportive through many life events, that’s a friend.
The benefits of good friendships include:
- Reduced daily stress adding more happiness when you connect with someone who keeps your mind on positive things
- Improved coping during times of events such as illness or death of a loved one
- Improved general health, reducing premature death due to conditions such as high blood pressure, depression, etc
- Encouraging healthier lifestyle choices when surrounded by good people
So, if different circumstances has made it harder to connect with friends and you need some help, these are places to help find and create them:
- Volunteer somewhere that has a mission you love
- Online groups that meet virtually or in person
- Attend a class of interest such as ones for exercise or cooking
In the end, remember, life is not perfect and there comes a time where we need help from others, so be just a little more kind along the way and connect with someone.