How to Keep Your Friendships Happy

I’m finally getting a chance to read Something Borrowed (the DVD releases today but I recommend reading the book first). It’s reminding me of something essential, something I’ve always called “the sunshine in my life”—friendship. Regardless of the plot, which is too complicated to delve into briefly (let’s just say a woman has an affair with her best friend’s fiancé—and somehow you end up rooting for their untimely romance), this book makes me think hard about my friendships and how I can be a better friend. Companions, buddies, gal pals, whatever you want to call them, can offer so much happiness to our lives but we have to truly treasure them. It can be easy to take a friendship for granted if we’re not careful so I thought I’d share some tips on how to keep your friends close.1. Start it up: Initiate conversations, outings, and future plans. Your friend will start feeling frustrated, and perhaps even insecure about your friendship, if you never go first. It’s a give and take and if you’re doing all the taking, sooner or later, your friends may stop giving.2. Don’t flake: I’ve seen status posts on Facebook recently about how annoying it is when people flake. I have to agree. And if it’s a continual pattern, friends may start losing their faith in you and thus, stop inviting you.3. Have heart to hearts: You don’t have to have Kleenex worthy conversations all the time, but it’s good to not completely close yourself off to your closest friends. Let someone in your life.4. Try new things: Go hiking, go skiing, go to a new restaurant—keep it exciting! My friend and I recently went to the Winchester Mansion and that was definitely an interesting field trip. Be adventurous together!5. Make plans to see each other: It takes an extra effort to keep your friends around once you’re no longer in the same social circles. High school and college come and go and so will your friends if you don’t plan on meeting up every now and then. Prepare to work a little harder if you want your pal to stick around.I hope you’re enjoying your friendships this summer. I have two friends coming out to the beach house today and I’m looking forward to a great day. Make the call today and check in on a friend or better yet, go see them!Keep shining,The Sunny Girl, Lauren Cook