How To Maintain Lifelong Friendships

Everyone needs a friend. Someone with whom, you can share secrets, go shopping, and party like a star! Celebrities need best friends too. Underneath all that glamour and cutthroat competition of Hollywood, there are some genuine friendships. Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox may have started out with sharing screen on Friends but these two co-stars took their friendship off screen too. Courteney was at Jen’s side, when Jen’s marriage to Brad Pitt ended. Their friendship is so deep that today Jen is godmother to Courteney's daughter, Coco. Similarly, famous Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are best of friends. Today, Oprah might be one of the most famous women but she never forgot her friend. King is the editor of her magazine and often appears on show. Making friends is not an easy task but to maintain a lifelong friendship is surely an intricate task. Maintaining everlasting friendships require effort. Busy lifestyles - work, marriage, kids, and divorce can take a toll over your friendships. If you are spending a large part of your time with your random neighbors and coworkers than your friends, it’s time to rejuvenate your old friendships! Friendships need nurturing else they die. So, here are few tips to help you maintain lifelong friendships. 

Tips To Maintain Everlasting Friendships 

• Communication is the key for a successful relationship. Like any other relationship, friendship requires honest communication. Regular phone calls are an effective way of keeping the communication channel open. If you are staying distances apart, then e-mail can be your first step of communication. Exchange daily e-mails or set up a time to meet on instant messenger and exchange messages. Keep the communication channel open to maintain everlasting friendship. 
• In a friendship, there will always be times when your friend will need someone to listen to him/her. It’s the time to provide listening ear to him/her. Your friend is looking for someone who can listen to his/ her problems without being judgmental. Even if you don’t agree with him/her and think that he/ she is mishandling the problem, don’t interrupt. It’s important to be a good listener. 
• For maintaining lifelong friendships, you should remember important dates like his or her birthday, anniversary, and other dates, which are important to your friend.
•  In a friendship it’s important to not to hold grudges. It’s easy to be displeased thinking that you are the one who is initiating all calls and e-mails. Take all this with a pinch of salt. It might be that your friend feels that you are busy with work or doesn’t feel comfortable calling at an inappropriate time. You need to be more thoughtful out of the two of you. There is nothing wrong with that! 
• If you think your friend is making a mistake, express your concerns. Give honest advice and suggestion to him. However, in this process, choose your words very carefully. Try to be nonjudgmental and avoid finding faults with your friends. If you feel that, your friend needs to improve in certain areas then put it across politely. 
• It‘s quite natural to disagree with each other. However, try to keep your arguments to a minimum. Don’t blow things out of proportion and try solving them over a chat. Try to keep the lines of communication open and apologize, if you feel that you were wrong. If you let go a silly argument for long then it can blow out of proportion
• If you are lucky enough to live in a same neighborhood or in the same city, why not plan sleepover? Just like old times, talk with each other, exchange gossips, enjoy food, and have a good time.
• Plan a day out with your friend. If you live in a same city, meet once in month over lunch or dinner. Going out for shopping or for a movie together is an unbeatable idea!

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. These amazing thoughts on friendship sum up the importance of friendship in our life.