5 Tips To Maintain & Improve Your Adult Friendships in 2024
Maintaining adult friendships can be difficult even with the presence of social media. Facebook and Instagram may be good at reminding us about our friend’s birthday, but not so much with making sure we are sustaining our friendships well.
It is so easy to get bogged down with work and family, but there is something about good friendship that can turn your bad days into enjoyable ones.
Sustaining connection between good friends is beneficial to the overall well-being of each member of the group. In the book, The Happiness Track, Emma Seppala of Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education stated, “People who feel more connected to others have lower levels of anxiety and depression.”
I believe one of the reasons why depression and anxiety is so high in America is due to the lost of connection. Good friendships (not toxic ones) bring you support in rough times, offer help when needed, bring laughter to an otherwise dull day, and provide a sense of belonging.
If you care about yourself and your friends’ well being, the best way to show it is by striving to keep the connection from fading. Many people let so much time pass by then realize after a decade that they should have spent more time with their friends. Don’t let that be you!
Here are 5 tips to maintain and improve your adult friendships.
Tip #1: Initiate Meetups
The common internal trap that people encounter when it comes to friendship is thinking that the other person does not want to spend time with you because they did not initiate any meetups. This is not always true. I encourage you to be the one that reaches out to your friends to see if they would like to meetup for dinner or another activity. The worst that they can say is “no”. The best thing that could happen is that they say “yes” or “I can’t make it that date, will Thursday work for you?” Don’t be too much in your head about it.
Tip #2: Show Up On Time Or Call Ahead When You Are Late
Timeliness can be a friendship killer. I recommend doing everything in your power to show up on time especially if you haven’t seen the friend in a long time. If you are running late, calling ahead of time with an estimated time of arrival will help alleviate any worry that the person has in the process of waiting for you. It all sounds simple, but gets so easily missed.
Tip #3: Be Open To Talking About Anything
When some time has passed by in maintaining a friendship, it can some times feel like “I don’t know what we’re going to talk about.” Just be open to talking about anything! Don’t limited the conversation to what you would want to talk about. There may be new commonalities and interests that you have yet to discover. Take the limits off and what your conversation flourish!
Tip #4: Text/Call To Check Up On Your Friends
Checking up on your friends is probably something that people don’t stress enough. I suggest texting or calling your friends as they randomly come across your mind. You never know what they are going through and you might be the joy that they need that day. Don’t stop at the check up, if you can. Send them funny Memes, gifs, quotes, book recommendations, etc. As much as they may need the friendly message, you need it just as much. They may come a day where they return the kind gesture during your off day, week, or year.