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How to make and maintain healthy friendships - for Adults Double click me.

Good friends are good for your health! Friends can boost your happiness, reduce your stress, improve your self-confidence and self-worth, and help you through hard times.

It may be surprising to come across suggestions on how to make and maintain friends for adults, but this is not as easy as it sounds. Like most things in life, we must put work into the friendship.

 

As adults have many more responsibilities than children, friendships can often take a backseat to jobs, partners, and children.

 

 

Here some suggestions to make connections with people if you are new to community:

 

  • Attend community events

    • Get together with a group of people with similar interests. A good website to try is www.meetup.com

  • Volunteer

    • Some ideas are a museum, community centre, charitable group, or place of worship.

  • Accept invitations and extend invitations.

  • Take up a new interest

  • Join a faith community

  • Talk a walk

While it's good to cultivate diverse network of friends, it's also important to nurture close friendships with those who will stick by you through thick or thin.

Here are some tips on how to maintain healthy friendships:

 

  • Accept yourself

  • Accept others

    • Give your friends space to change, grow, and make mistakes. Don't judge.

  • Be positive

  • Don't compete

    • Don't let friendships turn into a battle over who has and who doesn't have.

  • Listen

    • Let the other person know you are paying close attention through body language, eye contact, and occasional comments.

  • Respect boundaries

    • Keep confidential any personal information your friends share with you.

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