Friendships

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1Corinthians 15:33)

This is the Year of the Dog, according to Chinese zodiac. Dogs are our best animal friends. According to Chinese zodiac analysis, people born under the sign of the dog are loyal, friendly, kind, honest, easygoing, and helpful to others. Whether you’re one born in the year of the dog or somebody from the other Chinese zodiac signs, friendships play an important role in promoting your overall health.

Good friends are good for your health

Good friends celebrate good times with you and provide support during bad times. Adults with good friends reduce risks of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure, and an unhealthy body mass index. Studies have shown that older adults with rich social life are likely to live longer than others who have fewer connections.

What are the benefits of having good friends around you? Friendships result to:

1. Increase sense of belonging and purpose.

2. Boost your happiness. They can reduce your stress.

3. Improve your self-confidence and self-worth.

4. Help you cope with traumas, such as marriage problems and separation, serious illness, job loss, or the death of a loved one.

5. Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive alcohol and lack of exercise.

Friendships and the social media

While chat groups, Facebook and Twitter might help you make or maintain connections and relieve loneliness, such may not always be the case. Always exercise caution when sharing personal information or an activity with someone you’ve only met online.

When is friendship unhealthy?

Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, of Brigham Young University, says: “Dealing with people who cause conflicted feelings in us can raise blood pressure.” She adds, “Friends may help us cope with stress, but they also may create stress.” Friends can cause more stress than others because we care so much for them. We spend so much energy for them. Friends can hurt us more when we’re in conflict with them.

Caring for friends makes you live longer

Holt-Lunstad says, “One thing research shows is that as one’s social network gets smaller, one’s risk for mortality increases.” Let us therefore take care of one another. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).