By Divya Rawat
Going from Australia to Bahrain as a child was quit a cultural shock for me initially and coming back to Australia, after five years away, was also a shock. But making new friends helped me settle down into new schools and new cultures. Their support was instrumental in overcoming loneliness and feeling lost.
Friends help us overcome any situation, they make us believe in ourselves more than anyone else because they are not judgmental, but on the contrary supportive and more understanding of the situation. This was true for me both in Bahrain and Australia.
They help us by laughing with us on our idiocrasies, even failures, and letting us vent out our worries and frustrations. Reducing stress is good for our body as it regulates our blood pressure, improves our physical and psychological well-being.
Friends also help with personal and professional development by openly discussing our strengths and areas of improvement. In addition, encouragement, in times of hesitation, from friends is all it takes in following up on new career or personal opportunities and new challenges.
In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer
By sharing our experiences with friends, our problems, and getting support from our friends, we enrich our lives and find solutions and feel better no matter how tough the situation.
Having good friends helps us to learn from each other and develop good habits, and become more social. Above all good friends allow us to be ourselves rather than put up an appearance or pretence. Support from friends is not only a confidence booster but it is, also, a resilience builder.
Lastly, how many good friends you need? Fortunately, the answer to this is not many.
Because a person who has found a good friend has actually found a treasure. So it is not the quantity but the quality of your friendship that makes the difference.
Feature image: There’s nothing like the bond between friends. Picture: Duy Pham/CC/Unsplash
