7 Reasons You Should Keep Friends

This is a guest post by Olaniyi Ololade Moses

James and Dave were very good friends right from their childhood. They were raised in the same locality, attended the same primary school and studied in the same secondary school. One interesting thing about the two friends was that they were both science students with an interest in different fields. While Dave wanted to study Civil engineering, James wanted to study Computer science because of his passion for programing, web and graphic design.

However, things turned good for Dave as he got a scholarship to study abroad while James had to continue his education in Nigeria.

But to cut the long story short, despite the fact that Dave was no more in Nigeria, the two friends stayed connected; communicating through social media.

It got to a time when the company Dave was working for abroad after he finished schooling needed a web designer, Dave instantly suggested his friend, James which was later employed.

That’s the power of friendship!  A good friend is someone who will never forget you no matter his position or height in life.

Most times, it is not about what we have but who will have in our lives that matters. This will make us examine six reasons why we should surround ourselves with good friends.

1. To avoid isolation and loneliness:

Maya Angelou says ” try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud”. Most times, we find ourselves alone, not because we don’t have friends but because we don’t keep them.

There is a total difference between making friends and keeping friends. Keeping a good friend will keep you from staying alone because a good friend will always try to be the star on your dreary sky.

2. To Avoid Depression:

Of course, loneliness may eventually lead to depression. And one of the ways to tackle this is to have a friend around you; someone who will show you glints from the stars (hope) in dark days, someone who will assure you of a better tomorrow.

Someone who will lift you up out of the depth of your sadness. The book of proverb says “true friendship refreshes the soul”. It is only a good friend that will help you calm the storm in your head in a stormy day.

3. To solve your problems:

“Many people will work in and out of your life but only good friends will live a footprint in your heart” – Eleanor Roosevelt.

I won’t have a friend who won’t be ready to solve my problems, and I won’t be a friend to someone without helping him to solve his problems.

This is a reality, good friends are a problem solver. They tend to be the solution to someone’s problems. One of the core reasons why you should keep a friend is to get your problems solved.

True friends stay with you during difficult times and help you ease and end the difficult days. The more you keep good friends, the more you get your problems solved.

4. A good friend corrects you:

A good friend will not render a destructive criticism on your work. He will rather correct you to know what is right. A good friend is someone who won’t compliment and praise you always, he’s someone who will tell you the truth even when it is difficult to say it.

He will let you know the right things to do when you’re confused. He will guide you when you’re lost. And he will correct you when you don’t fix things right. That’s the magic of friendship.

5. A good friend compliments you:

I always say ” surround yourself with people who will make you feel good about yourself. There is no how worse you could feel about yourself, true friends will always make you feel good.

They will tell you good things about yourself which will make you feel better in a very worse day. A good friend is someone who praises you whenever you do the right thing. “Someone who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flower in your garden” – Anonymous.

6. Support, attention and care:

“Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you” – Misty Copeland.  You may find yourself in a very big situation bigger than what you could ever imagine; true friends will surely so up to support and comfort you.

You may find yourself in a contest whereby you need more voters, you won’t be able to win if you don’t have good friends around you.

In that situation, true friends show up to take it up for you; believe me, you don’t need to do anything but watch your friends as they do the magic.

7. Opportunity to lift one another:

Oprah Winfrey says  “Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher “. One of the core reasons why we should keep friends is to lift one another.

We can’t be successful at once that’s why the book of preacher says “there is time for everything” so, therefore, a time you’re blooming, you should consider that as an opportunity to lift your friend who is still struggling with his life.

Learn from the story of Dave and James and see how friendship can get you to the top. Your friend in the government’s house can recommend you to the governor, your friend abroad may recommend you to his firm who needs your services. We’re all meant to assist and help one another, that’s why we should keep good friends.

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