5 Ways Friends Affect Our Life Positively
It is said that though we can’t choose our relatives, thank God we can choose our friends! Friends arise from our basic need to be social and to communicate. Friends form an ecosystem outside our immediate family and are very much necessary for our emotional well being. Read on to know just how friends affect our life positively.
1. They help coping with growing up
We all have been there. Teenage years are arguably the most difficult part of one’s childhood. The awkward transition phase between a child and an adult poses a whole new set of challenges which can confuse, frustrate and anger a child. Parents can do only so much to understand and quite often fail miserably in trying to deal with their child. It is in this space that friends step in and provide the much needed support and commiseration. How do they do this? By being in the same situation as the child! Having a peer group of the same age group, sharing a similar outlook and coping with similar problems can be a very effective support system. A child who has close, understanding friends need not feel alone and hapless and knows that there are some people he/she can share all problems of the world with.
2. They bring about the element of sharing and caring
We learn the values of sharing and helping within our homes. Having siblings makes us understand that we do not have the first right of refusal for everything in this world. By the same extension, friends provide us that learning with outside people. It is by being in a circle of people, helping out and learning to sometimes put others’ interests in front of ours that we learn to coexist better with our fellow human beings.
3. They aid professional development
We work hard to achieve our professional goals. However, other than spending maximum waking hours poring over books, there are a number of things we need to get right if we want a stable, growing career for ourselves. We need information! And we need it now! We need to become aware of the kind of careers, the avenues to get there, the various educational opportunities etc. And who better to get that kind of information than from someone who is trying to do the same with their life? Friends can provide valuable feedback and an anchor to help us navigate the myriad and complex professional life.
