DO YOU MAKE TIME FOR … FRIENDS?
“Look for friends who can last, and when they’re new, be satisfied that one day they will be old. The best ones of all are those well salted, with whom we have shared bushels of experience. Life without friends is a wasteland.”
-Baltasar Gracian, a Spainish Jesuit scholar
Our lives are busy! In these times of social media where one can be ’friends’ with 685 people, how can we simplify so that no one is neglected? We won’t even mention co-workers, church friends, neighborhood friends and other areas where we may have ‘gathered’ people along the way.
PRIORITIZE THE LEVEL OF FRIENDSHIP
It is wise to remember that some people are just acquaintances and do not have the same status as a close friend whom you’ve enjoyed for 20 years.
Thus, establish some sort of order to the overabundance of ‘friends’. You may need to go through your ‘rolodex’ (or whatever system you use) every so often, to place some people in a separate file if they are no longer in your life.
REALIZE THAT RELATIONSHIPS CHANGE OVER TIME
It is also important to realize that relationships change over the years. If you are single, your ‘friends’ may be many and for a variety of reasons — jogging friends, work friends to mention just two.
If one gets married, priorities change. A spouse deserves the highest priority over other friends. Plus, you would probably develop friendships with other couples along the way.
When children arrive, your spheres of friendships grow from play groups to school activities and so much more. It’s an ever-changing life.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Mark 10:7–9
3 WAYS TO KEEP FRIENDSHIPS GROWING
The following suggestions can help keep any friendship, old and new, growing:
1. Make time.
If we wait until we find the time to develop friendships, we will never do it. We must make the time. Specific time must be set aside for your relationship to grow and prosper.
2. Take the initiative.
Your friend is probably as busy as you are. Don’t wait for him or her to take action. Taking the initiative shows you really care.
3. Keep in touch regularly.
In these days of texting, e-mail, social media, the phone and postage stamps, there is almost no excuse for neglecting to keep in touch on a regular basis.
Author of “Balance for the Hurried Woman”, specializing in scriptural teaching, time management and health issues. Contact deuwriter333@gmail.com.
