Every once in a while, people get scared that they are going to lose the people that are close to them. We are not talking about fatalities, but rather getting out of touch with your friends and destroying the relationship.
The importance of friendship
Everyone needs friends, no matter whether it is just to have someone to spend quality time with or help you battle the notorious post house removal depression, or to share a hobby with. Building relationships comes quite naturally to people, but that does not mean that you should not know a thing or two about how to nourish and make them better and more lasting.
How to make things last
First and foremost, do not be shy and use the phone. Do not wait for you to need something from your friends in order to give them a call. Just check on them every once in a while to see how they are doing. That will make them feel validated in your eyes and they will also not forget to call you next time there is something interesting going on. Who knows, you can even arrange for a lunch together. There is actually a very good study that shows that sharing a meal with family, friends and loved ones actually brings in a lot of benefits to the relationship in question.
If you want someone to make something for you, then you should be ready to pay forward. If you do nice things for people, they are going to return the favour, you can be sure about that. There is no need to go an extra mile in order to achieve that. In most cases, simple help with networking would do. For example, if you have a friend who you know is a good web designer, and you have another friend, who is looking for someone to build the website for their up-and-coming business, just get them in touch. It would not cost you a thing, but at the same time the help you have provided would be very much appreciated.
Another very important aspect of maintaining meaningful relationships is to make sure that you trust others. No matter how hurt you have been hurt in the past, you should avoid the wrong conclusion that everyone on this planet is a bad person. Trust is the most important part of every relationship and you should learn how to cultivate it.
And last but not least, you should make the effort to avoid all the interpersonal relationship pitfalls that are out there. Those might include a variety of things, from having too high expectations of yourself and others, to being constantly negative about life. Jealousy, being self-centered, keeping anger and sadness to yourself, or expecting the other person to just magically read your mind are all no-go’s. All in all, the important thing is to be just a nice person, so that you can expect others to be nice to you too. It is really that simple.