When life gets busy and we become too self fixated, we sometimes forget to nurture our friendships or just be friendly in everyday life.

We neglect our friendships by not checking in on each other. We say to ourselves “ I’ll get back to you very soon” but we take ages to respond etc.

When it comes to everyday friendliness and generosity – we shy away from being friendly to the cashier in the supermarket or give away some of our time to volunteer for a worthy cause.

Dr Gladys Mcgarey, a 102 year old Medic recently said:

^{The quality of our relationships at 50 is the greatest predictor of our health at 80, according to the Harvard Study of Adult Development. She hopes she doesn’t sound “like an old lady complaining about the world”, but she believes the more we have the more time we spend apart, retreating into individual electronic devices and asking “apps not neighbours” The Times UK}

This shows that building and strengthening our diverse friendships frequently can have a profound impact on our lives now and into the future.

Action:

To be a friend and be friendly, start by meeting up in person with some of your close friends for a walk, coffee or meal . Diarise the social moment or do this virtually as the second option . Being friendly will require – saying hello and asking how someone is doing.

Finally, let’s not take the frequent strengthening of friendships casually, but an act that is life giving and joyful.

One life, live it kinder.

Charlotte xx