“It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble, and then not worth much after you get it.”
~ Zora Neal Hurston, author and anthropologist, 1891 – 1960
I can’t imagine living without friends, particularly good friends, can you? Not only do friends bring great joy and a lot of fun, they’re also there for us when we need support, a sounding board or wise (hopefully) advice. Plus, there are lots of health benefits to having friends. Research has proven that:
Adult friendships significantly predict well-being and can protect against mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
People with no friends or poor-quality friendships are twice as likely to die prematurely – that’s a risk factor greater than smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
People who have a friend by their side while completing a tough task have less heart rate reactivity than those working alone.
If you don’t have any good friends yet, get out there and make some. If you do have good friends, make sure you keep them. I found another good quote about friendships (there were so many good quotes it was hard for me to only use two of them):
“A good friend is a connection to life –
a tie to the past, a road to the future,
a key to sanity in a totally insane world.”
~ Lois Wyse, advertising executive and author, 1926 – 2007