Friendship Week: Building, Nurturing, and Maintaining Friendships
The third week of August is truly spectacular as it honors National Friendship Week. Friendship Week is a way to celebrate our current friendships and make new ones.
We are naturally social creatures and have always valued the importance of having friends in our lives. Besides providing relentless love, a strong support system, and some much-needed comic relief, good friends can also make us feel healthier, happier, and more confident. That’s why it is fitting to celebrate this glorious feeling by having a week dedicated to friendships.
The True Meaning of Friendships
True friendship is the most beautiful bond. If you have real friends, you are blessed to have people in your lives who understand you and would stand by you in your times of need.
Friendships can provide a fallback system and teach us lessons about the world. However, like any relationship, friendships can also be challenging. Nurturing them to build lasting partnerships that can stand the test of time is crucial.
In honor of National Friendship Week, below are ways you can continue to build, nurture, and maintain your friendships.
Be Open and Honest with Them
Friendships can teach us many things and provide a platform to improve ourselves. One of the most important ways to nurture a solid friendship is to be open and honest.
Being open and honest means sharing your true feelings, discussing anything that bothers you, and being respectful. Your friendship could potentially fail if you don’t have open communication. Be genuine with your closest friends, and you will be rewarded with lots of love and laughter for a lifetime.
Accept Them For Who They Are
Nobody is perfect, and there may be times when you disagree with your friends. In these situations, be accepting and let your friends make their own decisions.
Practicing acceptance is a great way to show your friends that you love and respect them, no matter what happens. Share your opinion only if your friend asks for it, then take a step back.
Respecting a friend’s intelligence and accepting them for who they are is the best way to ensure you get the same treatment. Accepting your friends will make you a bigger and stronger person capable of handling anything thrown your way.
Prioritize Your Friendship
Prioritizing your friendship can help build great relationships. It is easy to get wrapped up in work and other obligations at the expense of your friendships in today’s busy world, and this can potentially damage your relationships in the long run. To avoid this pitfall, prioritize your friendships, even when life gets busy.
Listen Without Interrupting
Good listening is a vital feature of any great friendship. It is impossible to have open and honest communication without actively listening. To maintain a great friendship, it is essential to listen. Active listening means turning your body toward the person speaking, making eye contact, and using thoughtful responses to express attention and understanding. The practice of listening without interrupting can help your friend feel heard and respected.
Express Your Gratitude
True friends are one of our greatest blessings. To let them know how special they are to you, show appreciation by sending a small handwritten card, buying a small gift or flowers, or meeting for dinner.
Expressing gratitude helps your friends feel valued and, in return, creates deeper bonds, stronger friendships, and longer-lasting connections.
Our friends are our greatest cheerleaders, allies, psychiatrists, and court jesters, and life would not be the same without them. So, this week, put in some time to nurture, build, and maintain your great friendships because true friends are what make our lives better.
Watch the YouTube Video below to learn the qualities that make a good friend and how you can make new friends as an adult.
Personal Injury Lawyers in Sacramento
I’m Ed Smith, a personal injury lawyer. If you or a family member has been severely hurt in an accident, contact our experienced legal team for free, friendly advice at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400. You can also reach us through our online form.
Since 1982, our injury attorneys at AutoAccident.com have helped Northern Californians get the compensation they deserve for accident and wrongful death cases.
We are proud members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.
See our verdicts and settlements.
Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash
cha llo [cs 741]