Nurture Yourself with Sustaining Friendships

How to enhance your well-being through better friendships

1. Focus on quality over quantity. An extrovert by nature, I used to have a countless stream of friends. Some shared my goofy sense of humor, or ambition, or could be fun to be around in small doses. But as life got busy and I realized the energy drain of spreading myself too thin, I got pickier. The turning point came in 2008, when I had a housewarming party. Decided to invite everyone I liked and over 100 people showed up. I was miserable. Couldn’t speak to anyone for more than a moment, knocked myself out to make sure people were taken care of and just wanted to hide in my bedroom under the covers. That’s when I started focusing more on the people who truly mattered. Like Samantha, who is loyalty personified. We met the first day of our freshman year at Emory University back when Reagan was president, shoulder pads were sky-high, and Madonna first became a Material Girl icon. Our friendship has only grown deeper over time, as we have been there for each other through losses and happy times. These days we chat via phone or text about every week or two and usually get together every other month. The point is, focusing my energy on the people who matter the most gives me a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction…

— Published on July 31, 2018
https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/38023-nurture-yourself-with-sustaining-friendships