LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Our friendships do more than make us happy; they give us stronger hearts and immune systems, and contribute to our longevity.

How can we get better at friendship? As well as making new friends, how can we strengthen bonds with the friends we already have? According to Shastra Nelson’s book Frientimacy, it would be helpful to look at our conversations. The basis for friendship is positivity and enjoying time and conversation together. To do well our conversations need five rewarding interactions for each stressful or negative one (e.g. bitterly complaining).

So I’m planning to keep an eye on how my chats go, and make sure there’s enough appreciation for the good things happening.