Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field, which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside.For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
— Khalil Gibran (Friendship IXX)
Gibran’s words sum up the universal truth about friendship. The best of friends always laugh, dance, cry and help each other through thick and thin. Friends, in a way, counter stress.
"The answer to all my problems is just a call away, whenever I am low I just need to call up my best friend and speak to her about it," says Sheena Sippy, a 25-year-old, executive producer. She adds, "The best part about her is that she is a great listener and knows exactly how to bring a smile to my face."
Spending time with a good friend is said to help one rejuvenate. Research also reveals that friends have immense therapeutic value.
For instance, in 2004, researchers at the Ohio State University conducted a study to understand the physiological mechanisms by which social support improves health. They looked at the effect, social contact had on wound-healing in stressed hamsters. Results showed that skin wounds healed nearly twice as fast in the hamsters paired with a sibling. These animals also produced less of the stress hormone cortisol than unpaired hamsters.
Assistant professor of psychology Courtney DeVries, after the research concluded, "Stress delays wound-healing in humans and other animals, and social contact helps counteract this delay."
Television actor Vir Das says, "Family and friends are the two constants in my life. Though I am a celebrity, they do not treat me like one. They keep me grounded and are definitely my weakness as well as my strength." With work and hectic lifestyles, it gets really difficult to spend time with friends. But just sitting and talking about unrelated things with friends can brighten up your day and lift your mood.
Often it is not the amount of time but the quality of time that you share with these friends. Here are ways one can find time to kick it with friends:
1. Exchanging daily pleasantries: Kalpana Raman, college student says, "The best thing about college is friends. Usually we hang out in between lectures or during the end of the day, randomly gossiping and chatting. We actually feel uncomfortable, if we do not catch up on a particular day." Even at work, lunch and tea breaks help you bond with your colleagues.
2. Weekend breaks: Partying, movies, clubbing, coffee are all but an excuse to get friends under one roof and have a great time together. It is a great form of recreation.
3. Hanging out with old friends: Meeting old friends happens rarely but they bring along a sense of nostalgia and sometimes take you into another world altogether. The memories can make you cry, laugh and also relieve you from stressful situations.
4. Going on a holiday with friends: Ryan D’souza, a Mumbai-based banker says, "I have this group of close friends and we plan a holiday every six months. We just take off to some remote place in the outskirts of the city, even if that is a village. Sometimes our holidays are as short as two days, but it really helps us unwind."
5. Online networking: Internet and networking sites have made it possible to stay connected with friends and also discover new friends who share similar passions and ideas. Group chats, blogs, online communities and networking sites bring friends together virtually.
