ESSAY : Making and keeping friends

So how does one make a friend? The important thing is to do something you really like – such as reading, playing football or drawing– so that you can meet others who like these activities too. It’s also possible to make good friends in surprising places; even a friendly chat in a school bus can lead to a friendship that lasts years. Even if you’re shy or reluctant to make the first move, when you meet someone it’s important to get to know them.

And how many friends are enough? If you have three or four good friends you can truly count on, you are lucky. Having a circle of friends is more beneficial, as it makes you less dependent on one person, and expands and varies your social environment.”

We may have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook, but very few of these cyber pals translate into real life friendships. It’s tempting to spend hours texting, tweeting and emailing, alone in front of our computers, instead of engaging in realistic encounters. But without face-to-face connection, we lose something precious in our quality of interaction

Do enjoyable things with our friends. To have good friends you must be a good friend. That can mean spending time together regularly, sharing a common goal, even something as simple as eating together during recess. Pay attention to meaningful events in a friend’s life, acknowledging and celebrating their happiness, or offering help if they’re going through a hard time. Giving friends some of your time, or helping with something you’re good at (but they aren’t), is a wonderful way of being a friend. And make sure you earn your friends’ trust.

Whatever your values, there’s no doubt that good friends are critical to our well being and self-worth. Our challenge is to create sufficient time to nurture and sustain our friendships no matter how busy we may think we are. Deeper friendships enhance the quality of our lives.

Adapted from “The Readers Digest” 1^st March 2013

Glossary

Enhance- make something better

Nurture- help to develop/ grow

Sufficient- enough