How To Maintain Long-Lasting Friendships

A few months ago, I shared that I had a hard time making new friends in my current stage of life. Although I may not have a bunch of close local friends I have 4 best friends in 4 different cities that I know would do anything for me!

These 4 girls and I all met freshman year of college and instantly clicked. We were the best of the best for about 3 years, then some stupid housing drama happened and let’s just say we all took a break. Flash forward a few months and I’m not really sure what spurred it, but we all kind of realized hey that was stupid and we missed our friends.

Now we’re all the closest of friends and nothing can come in between that. We’re all total girl bosses, do nothing but support and encourage each other, and we all want to see the other person be the best they can be. Like mentioned in my previous post, we all try to get together at least once a year for an annual girls trip and unlike any friendships I’ve ever had, we can go months without seeing or talking to one another and pick up right where we left off like nothing changed.

These girls mean the world to me and are truly my ride of die sisters until the end!

How To Maintain Long-Lasting Friendships

1. Deep Conversations

One of the things I value most of about these girls is we talk about the hard stuff. Sure, we talk about our jobs, our relationships, our life etc. But about 75% of our conversations are deep heart-wrenching topics or things that really help open our eyes and perspectives. This is something that I think connects us and keeps us close. We push each other to grow and learn from each other.

2. Judgement Free

Each one of us has a very different lifestyle, one of the girls has been married for years, I’m a newlywed, one lives in a big city, one is still in school getting her PhD. Even though we’re all doing our own thing, we have nothing but respect for each other and have no judgment in their decisions, actions or lifestyles.

3.. Drama Free

We all know those girls…you know who I am talking about. Drama girls. They pick apart everything you say or do and are always thriving off of drama. Sure those people might be fun to hang around with for short periods, but they are never going to be your lifelong friends.

All of us are low drama, take it like it is people and if we have a problem we will call the other one out on it. I think this helps our relationships stay healthy and last for years because there’s no petty talking behind backs or worried what the person is going to say.

4. Forgiveness

Finding friends who show grace and forgiveness is key when making friendships last and it’s a two-way street. You have to be willing to forgive and forget. Like I mentioned before we all had a huge falling out, but we were all able to move past that and see our friendship was the most important thing.

5. Communication

Obviously, communication is key in any relationship and my communication with these girls is important for us all to stay connected. We have a group text, of course, but we have a Snapchat group and often send each other letters in the mail.

These girls are the best support system I could ever ask for and truly inspire me to be the best version of myself. Although we only see each other once a year, after 8 years of friendship it works for us and we remain close.