• September 30 2020
• Well-being

Is friendship necessary for equilibrium?

 

Dear Golden Care Members,  

Today we are going to share with you a well-kept secret for staying healthy: friendship. You don’t believe in it? And yet this human relationship is one of the cornerstones of your equilibrium. Indeed, happiness is based on simple things: Meeting up with friends, confiding to a sympathetic ear, being supported through the trials of life, sharing laughter, changing the world with a drink on a terrace. And for that, nothing is better than a true friend.  

 

Friendship and our basic needs 

We could ask ourselves what our primary needs are, what do we really need to live, to be happy and to enjoy a well-balanced life.   

Without hesitation, we could put on the list: eating, drinking, sleeping, then having a roof over our heads, feeling protected, safe, and finally, feeling loved. Loving, social and friendly relationships help to weave this bond that is so beneficial to our wellbeing. Friendship is a special relationship that it is essential to maintain. 

It is difficult to imagine a life without friends…  However, for some, this bond can sometimes be hard to create (not going out much, excessive shyness, an introverted personality, problems with trust, irrational fears…). But you can make a start by adopting a friendly attitude: caring about your surroundings, being open with others, smiling, organising an outing with a relative or a colleague. Small, daily actions will transform your life and a feeling of friendship will increase your sense of happiness.  

 

The power of a true friendship 

We are not talking here about girlfriends or Facebook friends, but about a sincere and deep friendship. To flourish, friendship must be based on values such as kindness, trust, generosity, respect and loyalty. Thus, only a friend is able to calm you down, help you to solve a problem, move forward, and encourage you.  

Moreover, throughout the ages, thinkers have always wondered about the power of this social relationship and the fundamental values on which it is based. Cicero advocated frankness as the foundation of friendship. It “is only truth and sincerity“, even if it means “addressing warnings and reproaches to friends“. According to the philosopher, friendship is absolutely essential to happiness. He even wonders whether “with the exception of wisdom, the gods have given mankind anything better. » 

 

The different types of friendship 

What if a friend was all of these things at once? 

• A guide:  

This person is important for your equilibrium, because he or she brings a depth of reflection, is able to support you and accompany you and challenge you when you take the wrong path.  

• A supportive friend:

You love their contagious enthusiasm, their comforting energy that allows you to meet the challenges of your life and never feel alone. 

•  A pleasant friend: 

He or she is the friend who is always in a good mood, with whom you share special moments when you joke or do sport and share fun activities.  

•  An accomplice friend:

We all have a friend like this. The one you can call at any time of the day or night. The one who will always be there for you. The one who will never let you down and who knows you better than you know yourself. 

 

Toxic friendship 

This is the human relationship that we all dread. The close and intimate person we thought was a faithful and sincere friend. The one who betrays us, reveals secrets, does not respect our life, is never available. As much as friendship can be a source of immense joy, it can also be a source of suffering. 

Etienne de la Boétie, Montaigne’s great friend, used to say that friendship “is sacred and holy and that it can only exist between good people, in mutual esteem. » 

Friendship is based on benevolence, reciprocity and loyalty. It can only survive if each person wants the best for the other, just for what he or she is and not out of self-interest. 

 

The impact of friendship on our health 

An American study by the University of Utah has revealed a correlation between friendship and the state of our health. Depriving oneself of sincere friendship would be a far greater risk to mortality than obesity or a sedentary life.  

Friendship has benefits that can affect your physical, mental and emotional health. 

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the benefits of friendship: 

– It reduces tension by offering a sympathetic ear 

– It reduces being overweight by increasing opportunities to go out or do activities together 

– It helps you to manage your emotions better  

– It improves relations with others 

– It makes us secrete happiness hormones (serotonin, dopamine, etc.) which are necessary for our equilibrium. 

 

Professor Lisa Wagner of the University of Zurich goes even further. Friendship does not only contribute to your equilibrium; it even prolongs your life. By being less affected by the negative effects of stress, your general state of health improves, and you gain valuable years of life. 

As you can see, friendship has a positive effect on your health and your equilibrium and helps you to live better every day. So, if you have been neglecting your friends lately, you know what to do… 

 

Your Team,

Credits photos: Canva, Unsplash, Pexels