How to Maintain Healthy Friendships

Maintaining healthy friendships isn't something that happens by accident. It takes patience, sensitivity, and caring to keep healthy relationships between friends.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Friends!

1. 
    

   Make time for your friends. Everyone wants to feel that they are valued by someone, so take a moment to make space in your schedule for the friends who are important to you. Don't wait until the last minute! Ask them ahead of time and make plans to be together.

2. 
    

   Communicate! Whether it's in person, over the phone, email, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter ... you just need to reach out. Maintain contact even when you're not physically near each other. It doesn't always have to be profound communication. Just passing along a few words about your day lets someone know you are thinking of them.

3. 
    

   Take an interest in their interests. If your friend loves video games, ask her to show you how to play a few. Ask a rock-climbing pal to give you a few tips on how he got started. You don't have to fall in love with their activity, but showing an interest in their hobbies shows an interest in their lives. And you might even enjoy it!

4. 
    

   Maintain your own personality. Don't become so wrapped up in someone else's life that you lose your individuality. You are an interesting friend when you bring something new to the table, rather than just cloning whomever you happen to be with at the time.

[OBigDaddyO]

on 1/23/2009 Very nice article and particularly apropos to this venue! 5* and recommended.