I still remember in our school days, couple of times we were given an assignment to write My best friend essay. During those days; it was just a write up of few paragraphs highlighting the importance & qualities of best friend and quotes like “A friend in need is friend indeed.” But today, when I am writing this article on importance of best friends, it has altogether different meaning for me. The real message of that essay writing exercise – why best friends are important in life, is understood in due course of time; as I have grown old in all these years.
Friends….all of us have them, right? Or, maybe all of us just think we do have. I would like to share with you one of my personal experience during my graduation days. I tried to blackmail one of my friend while forcing him for some personal favor, “Are not you my good friend ?” He replied, “No, we are not even friends, we are just batch mates, studying in same batch of engineering course.” His answer made me think about the real meaning of true friends. He was the person along with whom, I was spending most of my time during those days.
Friend word is most of the time misinterpreted. May be those people you party with, you eat with and you hang out with shouldn’t actually be called your friends. Even all virtual friends in the friend list of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram should not be called your friends.Well, then what is real friendship ? Who are our true friends ? And, above all are friends really important? Let us try to understand who are true friends and reasons why they are important in life.
Best friends share your good time
Sharing good time and happiness with friends is priceless. It is often sharing happiest moments with friends that make your life richer. It’s great to have a good circle of healthy friendships. You create a strong bond with close friends who all want the same thing in life – to live a happy life and be surrounded by happy people. Real friends share laughs, memories and inside jokes. They share your good time and increase the feeling of happiness, when you achieve anything significant in life. If your friends are not there to celebrate with, there is no meaning in that success.
Good Friends help you in bad times
Best or real friends always be honest and stand by your side no matter what. They wipe your tears, pick you up when you fall, offer their shoulder to cry on in tough times. Best friends are there in all the walks of your life, as you deal with heartbreak, job loss, losses in business; break up with loved ones or separation from your parents. They make you laugh even when you think you’ll never smile again. They help you out by listening you after your failures and advise you how to bounce back after failure in life. Friends help us in more ways than we can imagine, and mostly, they help us to broaden our outlook on life.
Best friends are best Critics
Your best or real friends know you well — sometimes better than you do yourself — and are not afraid to tell you things you don’t want to tell yourself. They will judge you without a bias and show you what is right and what is not. They will always criticize you for your wrong things and will help you shed the immature parts of your personality and become a better person. The true friends will not crumble their words and criticize the parts of you that need to be criticized. The honest opinions and advice that you receive from your real friends will make you an overall improved person.
Best friends are extended family
You can’t choose your family members, but you can choose your friends. Friends are the family you get to choose, your brother from another mother or your sister from another father. Best friends are your extended family. Sometimes you may have difficulty with your own family. You may feel misunderstood, misjudged, ridiculed, or even ignored. In that case, your best friends often fill in for what is not provided by your own family.It would be best, if you can find a good friend in your own family. It may be your spouse, siblings and cousins. Your parents or children as your good friends can be the best case scenario.
Good friends are your Comfort Zone
Friend circle of good and real friends create a Comfort zone for you. They accept you as you are… your all merits and demerits, your strengths and weaknesses, your all good and bad habits. You can be what you are, you don’t need to hide something and show something else in front of them. True friends support and encourage you, tolerate your shortcomings, accept you unconditionally, and care for you no matter what. You can share, discuss and explore your feelings with them. You feel comfortable in the company of them. Your life is like an open book to them and they already know all the inner details of your life.
Loyalty
Loyalty means never having to worry about someone spilling your secrets or talking about you behind your back. A loyal friend will be on your team no matter what. Most likely, you’ve spent years building your bond, which just gets stronger over time.
A survey from the U.K. shows loyalty is the top trait people want in a friend. Trustworthiness comes in second. Kindness was in third place, followed by being accepting of faults and sharing the same values.
Best Friends for good Mental & Physical Health
Healthy friendships of good friends crate healthy environment surrounding you. They become increasingly important to health and happiness as you grow old and add more years to your age. According to one of the newest studies, the childhood friends are most valuable when for your health and well-being. Last year, in the journal Child Development, one paper was published, in which the researchers found that having a childhood best friends can play a significant role in a person’s mental health well into adulthood.
As you get older importance of friends gets increased, in old age they play more critical role than families. During that time children and other family members get busy or sometimes pretend to be busy (yes, few pretends and it’s a bitter truth) with their profession and personal issues that old parents feel alone and lonely. During such time your best friends are your support system. Your mental fitness is far better, if you have few good friends with you.
It is well-established fact now days that having real friends is good for you . In past few decades, various studies have shown that social interaction is a critical factor for good mental and physical health. In these social interactions your best friends are most important.
To summarize, you don’t have to have a huge entourage of friends; in the end, you will be able to count your most genuine, trustworthy and real friends on one hand. This life is about the people you share it with; make the most of it. Surround yourself with good friends and always be a good friend in return.
