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3 Essential Tips for Building Intentional Friendships
It's not enough to be friendly. You have to be a friend. ~R.J. Palacio
Contents
What is an Intentional Friendship?
Talking Intentional Friendships with Vourneen at The Plain Simple Life
Why is it important to be intentional in building friendships?
What three tips can you give to help someone build intentional friendships?
Final Thoughts on Building Friendships
Learn More About Intentional Friendships at The Plain Simple Life
Friendships are an essential part of our lives.
Aside from our families and partners, our friends are the first people we turn to when something good happens and when we face difficult times.
Whether you find meeting people and making friends a challenge, or if you are a social butterfly who makes friends with little to no effort, the real test of the strength of a friendship is its endurance.
Our good friend and fellow blogger, Vourneen at ThePlainSimpleLife, is well-versed in what it takes to make a friendship last. Recently, she was kind enough to spend some of her valuable time sharing her knowledge and information with us about how to build intentional friendships.
What is an Intentional Friendship?
An intentional friendship is defined as a friendship that requires a conscious effort to build and maintain. Being intentional requires that you take an active role and make an effort to develop the friendship instead of being passive, sitting back, and waiting to see if the friendship endures.
Vourneen knows all about intentional friendships, and she was generous in providing us with some thoughtful information about intentional friendships by answering some questions.
Talking Intentional Friendships with Vourneen at The Plain Simple Life
In the post below, Vourneen shares the importance of friendships in our life, how to preserve our friendships, and how acting with intention helps add to the value of those friendships. All we need to do is put forth the effort.
Thank you for sharing this excellent information, Vourneen.
Why is it important to be intentional in building friendships?
At the end of the day, we all need someone to lean on, someone we can count on, someone we can confide in, someone we can laugh with.
Friends provide support, encouragement and a sense of community. Friends also help us to grow emotionally and can introduce us to new opportunities. They're a valuable part of our lives, so it's important to invest time into building strong and intentional friendships.
These types of friendships can last a lifetime and offer support during difficult times.
What three tips can you give to help someone build intentional friendships?
Tip 1 | Don't be afraid to be vulnerable.
True friendships are built on trust and mutual understanding. In order to nurture these qualities, it's important to be open and honest with your friends about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
When you're vulnerable with someone, it allows them to see the real you, and it also creates a space for them to feel comfortable being open and honest with you in return.
Tip 2 | Make time for each other.
A busy schedule is often cited as one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining friendships. However, if you really value your friendships, it's important to make time for the people you care about.
This doesn't necessarily mean setting aside large chunks of time; even just a quick catch-up for a coffee or phone call can make all the difference.
Tip 3 | Find friends who share your values.
It's important to find people who share your core values. This will help ensure that you have a strong foundation for your friendship. When you share values with someone, it's easier to connect with them on a deeper level and to build a lasting bond.
How have your friendships changed since you've become more intentional in building or sustaining them?
I used to just let friendships happen. I had a lot of casual friends, but not that many close ones.
Over the past year or so, I've started to become more intentional about building and sustaining friendships. I reached out to old friends that I hadn't talked to in a while and tried to connect with them on a deeper level.
I also tried to be more present when I was hanging out with friends and really listen to what they were saying.
As a result, my friendships have become much more meaningful. I still have casual friends, but I also have a small group of really close friends that I can rely on for anything. It's been really great getting to know them on a deeper level and having them in my life.
Final Thoughts on Building Friendships
A true friend is valuable beyond words.
Friends are here for us during the best of times and for the worst of times. They are some of the first people we turn to in good and bad.
But a lasting friendship doesn't just happen. It needs tending to like a delicate orchid. The likelihood of a long-lasting friendship is greatly increased when you act with intention and make a conscious effort to sustain that friendship.
When we neglect to put effort into our friendships and expect them to be healthy and thrive on their own, we frequently end up with one-sided toxic relationships. As a result, someone often feels taken advantage of, ignored, or like the victim of an energy vampire.
Or we can end up with no friendship at all.
But there is a better way.
Although we can't control how others behave or the effort they make to sustain a relationship, we are wholly and entirely in charge of how we behave toward others and the effort we make to build and maintain a friendship.
We can choose to act with intention and purpose to build and nurture friendships that enrich our lives. We can live a simpler life by practicing intentional friendship.
Learn More About Intentional Friendships at The Plain Simple Life
Again, a special thank you to Vourneen at The Plain Simple Life for sharing her thoughts with us about intentional friendship.
If you would like more information or to learn more about how to have a deliberate friendship, feel free to refer to Voureen's excellent article here.