Cherish your friends.
We all know that humans are social animals. This means we need and thrive in connection to others. There are many types of relationships, such as family, romantic, platonic friendships, and coworking relationships. Sometimes the lines between the different relationships can overlap and sometimes each style of relationship requires different things from us. Today, we’re going to focus on the sweetness of friendship. Often in our modern culture, more importance can be placed on romantic and familial relationships. What if they are all important? What if we prioritized our friendships just as much as our romantic partners? The stronger the support you have, the bigger your community is, the better your life outcomes tend to be. Putting too much pressure on one or a few relationships to fill all our needs is a recipe for overwhelm, resentment, codependency, and not getting all our needs met in relationship.
Friends offer so much to our lives. They are there with us to have fun, to experience new things, explore the world, and play. Friends are a breath of fresh air when life feels stressful and heavy. Friends are also shoulders to cry on, to help us when we are drowning, and a listening ear. They are a light in the dark. Friendships are another way to practice love for another person. We get to be different versions of ourselves with different friends, helping us to better understand and integrate all of who we are. We get to learn from them, from watching their lives and getting new perspectives. Good friends hold us accountable, they see the real us. One of the sweetest parts of friendship is that they are chosen. We don’t choose our families, we do choose our friends. And to me, there is nothing more loving and romantic than two people who choose each other because they want to. Friendship is a beautiful kind of love. Protect it, cherish it, and grow it. The world needs more love, so let’s make more!
Questions to ponder.
What do your love about your friendships?
How can you be more loving to your friends?
How content are you with the state of your relationships? Do you want more friends? Do you want deeper friendships?
