17 Foolproof Ways to Make Lifelong Friendships that Stand the Test of Time
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Seeking deep and lasting connections is more important than ever in the fast-paced and constantly evolving world of modern living. Intentional effort and nurture are necessary for true friendships that last over time.
Here are 17 tried-and-true methods for creating and preserving lifetime friendships, whether you want to make new ones or deepen your current ones.
Appreciate Your Friends
You refer to your pals as “friends” for a reason. You find them appealing, and you certainly like many things about them. Inform them! Give them lots of praise that shows how much you appreciate them for who they are.
Express your appreciation for their friendship and goodwill as well. Inform them, and inform them often. If you have these sentiments, phone them or mail them a card.
Celebrate with Them
Celebrating life with a friend entails both significant and minor victories. Enjoy yourself fully on all your milestones, weddings, birthdays, promotions, accomplishments, and recovered illnesses. God be praised for them!
Have you allowed any to pass by without giving them adequate time to be acknowledged? That shouldn’t deter you. Resuming is preferable to stopping completely because you lost out on some memorable occasions. Express regret and get back to celebrating. This is a beautiful part of life. Savor everything at once!
Grieve with Them
Along with victories, setbacks, illnesses, and other sorrows, life with a friend sometimes involves losses. In it, be present with them.
Sit with them in their misery without fear. Don’t let the fact that you can’t mend every wound or make the pain disappear deter you. Provide a secure, accepting environment for them to grieve. Along with them, offer prayers.
Grace
Give it and take it back as well. Reach for handfuls of it. Toss it about like glitter. You’re not flawless. They, like you, are fallible human beings who make mistakes daily. Give it all you’ve got.
“One who forgives an affront fosters friendship, but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.” (Proverbs 17:9)
Be Honest about Your Needs and Feelings
Do you need help with anything? Do you have a hurt you’d rather not talk about? Are you feeling awkward about anything a buddy is saying or doing? Is your friend not inquiring about you at all? Are you facing difficulties and in need of particular items?
Be truthful. Show vulnerability. Don’t let your desire to avoid the awkwardness of being honest force you to miss out on a deeper connection.
Know Them
Learn to know your friends since everyone wants to be recognized. Note their interests and topics of conversation. Participate in activities they like. Find out what their Enneagram number is.
Do they adore hoops, but you don’t? While you shouldn’t pretend to understand and share your hobbies, strive to do so. Inquire about themselves with them. Pay attention to the ratio of your speaking to your listening. Let them know you are familiar with them.
Allow Yourself to Be Served
Allow friends to help you when life gets rough. Needs are not a sign of weakness. Because you have allowed them to serve someone they love, YOU become a better friend. It deepens closeness in the relationship and calls for vulnerability on your part.
You let someone inside the more complex and messy parts of your life when you let them serve you. Give your friends an answer if they ask what they can do. Both of you will be happy you did.
Keep Envy in Check
Envy is a natural human emotion, yet we are aware that God forbids us from lusting after the possessions of our friends.
Recognize when your envy gets intense. Pray and take any necessary action to get over those emotions and ideas. A rift that continues to widen in your friendship might be caused by envy.
Accept Your Roles
Do you organize things in your friendships? Being the one who schedules everything makes it simple to get resentful. Although you would love it if your pals would arrange events, they never do. Or do you get sick of being the one who messages or calls to see how things are going all the time?
Setting limits is vital, but consider whether the annoying behavior is worth losing a friend over. Or is it just a difference in personality and gifting? Don’t waste time becoming irritated; accept that this could be your position. Think about what each buddy contributes to the friendship.
Cheer Them On
As they move forward, be there for them. Be a supporter and admirer of them. Recognize their goals and provide a space for them to check in on those.
Encourage them with your queries. Make it clear to them that you believe in them via your words and deeds. Cheer them on as they go ahead and celebrate when they accomplish.
Don’t Expect Them to Meet All Your Needs
It will be challenging to be friends with someone if you have unreasonable expectations of them, and they can never satisfy all of your wants.
It is simple to truly click with someone and then expect that they will complete you and bring that missing piece of yourself into your life. Recognize that nobody else can satisfy your wants or consistently bring you joy.
Serve Your Friend
Give of yourself, your energy, your time, and your gifts. Arrive when they’re in need. Serve supper, give them flowers, offer prayers, and watch the kids. Serve your buddies as best you can.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
Listen
Permit your friends to converse. After posing open-ended queries, pay attention. Give them a moment before interrupting them with your ideas, experiences, or tales if they share. Please give them the gift of quiet time in between ideas so they may keep thinking.
Laugh
Laugh. Enjoying Levity together is a blessing. Feel free to laugh; life is too hard not to. Send each other amusing memes, go to hilarious movies together, or suggest you watch a comedy together and text each other about it. How do you make your pals laugh more?
Don’t Quit When You Mess Up
Did you let your friend down? Are you a flawed companion? Naturally, of course! Every buddy disappoints the other.
None of us can be everything to our friends, and everyone sometimes disappoints others. Never end a friendship because you made a mistake. Return to the fray with elegance and humility.
Say You Are Sorry
Apologize right away. You’ll make mistakes, be wrong, and be weird. Give up your rage, show some vulnerability, and extend an apology.
Plan for Fun Things to Look Forward To
Make an effort to schedule enjoyable activities for the whole family regularly, even if they must be far in the future.
Every month, a dinner? Every year for vacation? Journey in a cabin? Night for a movie? Even if you have families and responsibilities, try prioritizing time for each other.
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