Think about the most fulfilling and meaningful moments in your life. Do they have any link to friendships? Well, most people will attest to this: that every good moment of their lives was as a result of direct or indirect friendships. Back in school, making new friends was indeed very easy, right?
You only needed a few shared values and hobbies, or even laughs on the field, and a very strong bond would be formed. That easy! Healthy relationships are extremely important in our lives; you know? Maneuvering through difficult experiences (sorrow, job loss, stress, name them) and awkward changes becomes much easier when you have friends.
Now, aside from the obvious benefits of friendships, there are other physical, emotional, and health benefits of true friendships that we can talk about in this article. Read on.
Benefits of True Friendships
1. Health Benefits of True Friendships
Fixing Stress
Experts have linked low risk of stress to a stronger social support system. People who have a good network of friends are at a lower risk of getting stressed or depressed. When you spend quality time with friends, you reduce the load in your brain, which makes your body to produce low cortisol (the stress hormone). This way, you feel calm.
Increases Happiness
There’s no better way to get joyous in life than by interacting with friends. Experts say that socializing amps your happiness more than you wait for people to come to you.
True Friendships Boost Confidence and Self-esteem
True friends approve of you, praise you, reassure you that everything shall be alright, etc. They also give you a back to lean on when you are worried or unsure about life issues. By them being there for each other, true friends develop a good life full of gratitude.
Strengthens Body Immunity
Human’s body immune system is directly linked to true friendships. According to experts, people with good friends tend to have stronger anti-inflammatory response systems and body immunity, which can lead to quicker healing of wounds, low risk of terminal illnesses, and reduced risk of arthritis and certain types of cancers.
Enhanced Overall Body Health
According to medical experts, true friendships instill in us good habits. That is true for most of us, right? Whether it is going for exercises with them, or eating good foods together, our friends’ positive influence effectively lowers the risk of many illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, depression, stress, high blood pressure, and many more.
Away from health benefits of true friendships, you can also benefit through:
2. Spending Quality Time with Pals
Hanging out with friends can be gratifying, isn’t it? Apart from improving your mood and self-esteem, it also alleviates your risk of terminal illnesses. Most people say that true friendships are rare to find, and that if you are in one already, it is a good cure for different kinds of physical and emotional pains.
Truth be told, most of us like either socializing or solitude, but have you ever heard of a person who prefers loneliness? Probably not. Everyone wants to feel that they’re loved and cared for. Full stop. Friends are loving and caring, but it calls for you to just be there. It all starts with spending quality time with them.
3. The Benefit of Open Communication
Open communication results from socializing and interacting with friends. The more you hang out with them, the higher the chances that you will open up to them regarding any issue. Generally, that is true to everybody, including you. Similarly, the more you refuse to hang out with them, the more you are likely to retreat into your shell of suffering. In this case, you tend to forget about the benefits of communication and it is essential in helping you to find solutions. You know, friendship is usually built on the premise that ‘’sharing is caring’’. You will realize that friends, and we are talking about true friendships here, will cry with you when you are grieving about a breakup, or say when you are mourning the loss of a relative, for example.
4. Sharing of Great Ideas
One most important quality of true friendships is that once there’s a free flow of communication, you begin trading viable ideas on how to go about things. Your friends will certainly support your ideas while telling you what you need to work on to make the idea a reality. Your friends can tell you if the ideas are reasonable or not, and the feedback can help you make improvements and set goals. In the same way, your feedback can help your friends big time.
Simply put, true friendships are beneficial to your growth.
Have you ever got a good idea from friends? What is it?
5. True Friends Encourage One Another
For most of us, we madly need encouragement more than anything else. That is exactly what true friendships can give you-encouragement when you need it most. Maybe you are currently nursing a breakup, or you are about to embark on implementing the ideas you shared with you shared with your pals (above). You don’t new ideas or information but the courage to help you follow through with what you already have. You need the courage to get up and running after falling.
Friends support you the way they can, and they give you the reason to continue pushing forward. Inspiration and companionship aside, the benefits of true friendship and love are extremely many, especially when it comes to self-improvement.
True friendships are when friends can help you to fix troubles and challenges when everyone has neglected you. When they tell you that you too can.
6. You Get to Learn New Stuff
The list of benefits of true friendships cannot be said to be compete minus what tangible things you can draw from friendships. We are talking about skills. Skills are detailed, low-level actions. As your connections around your circles grow stronger, you begin to learn one or two skills that you would never have learned in class, or even known about, for example yo-yoing. Hanging out with a friend who drives everyday will see you knowing how to press the clutch or how to park the car.
Or a friend gets into music production, and then you find yourself following along. No matter how small the skill you draw from friendships may seem, it is a good step towards your personal growth. Other skills can be profound than pressing the car’s clutch.
7. You Draw Inspiration from Friendships
Learning new skills from friends is usually accompanied by inspiration. It is a strategy. It changes your way of living and how you act. Inspiration is for example when you put aside you career to go pursue the art of mixing songs as a DJ.
Yes, inspiration is difficult to pinpoint, which is why we are you could be inspired by the people you look up to (and their lives), instead of their teachings. Inspirations start to manifest the moment true friends influence their fellow friends through their specific ideas and skills.
When you see the combination of admirable details in a friend’s life, you begin to imitate them, subsequently changing your overall individual life strategies.
Now, who inspires you? Who do you inspire?
8. Sharing
Most friendships are founded on sharing. When you are friends with somebody, asking to borrow items from them is not a problem. Also, lending them your things is not a problem either, as there exists that trust between you and them. That is what true friendships are all about.
9. Accountability
You know that you are part of a true friendship when your pals can call you out over mistakes, or go the wrong way. Those who wait until their “friends” fall into a ditch cannot be considered to be good friends. Accountability also occurs when your friends can actually force you to work towards achieving the goals set above.
How Long Do Friendships Last On Average?
Just like any other relationships, friendships are born, they thrive, and sadly, some die. For example, there are those friends you made while in school but you now can’t trace them. Some friends last even a lifetime. We just can’t estimate how long can a friendship last, of course because of many factors, such as different life goals, and circumstances.
“What is the Most Important Quality in a Friend?”
Human beings are social creatures. We make friends throughout life; in church, school, college, office, and everywhere. But is everyone a friend? No. So, what qualifies one as a friend?
● Can they be trusted? Are they loyal?
● Can they listen and advise?
● Do they cheer you up?
● Are they naturally straightforward?
● Are they forgiving?
● Are they selfless?
If the answers to all these questions is ‘YES’ that is a true pal. What more? They should not be judgmental. And the list is endless. You know all the good traits, yeah? Well, a good friend has good traits.
Advantages of True Friendships: Why Socializing Is Important for You
Leading a life that is full of true friends is not only beneficial to your overall body health but also to your physical well-being. If you are fortunate enough to have dependable pals, you certainly have a true friendship story for us. Congratulations for that!
As we said, true friendships are rare to find. If you are looking forward to bringing new good friends near you, maybe you can consider engaging in a new hobby where you can meet with new faces. You can also attend charity events, join a religious community, or even volunteer at the local NGO. Regardless of your age, you can still count on the many health benefits of true friendships. Additionally, a strong circle of friends is also beneficial for your physical wellness. You can eat out and play together, no matter your age.
