Find Friends to Improve Your Health and Longevity!

“True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.” Charles Caleb Cotton.

This guest piece, kindly submitted by James Bradshaw, explains why friends, old and new, are a crucially important part of being human and of being happy:

“A couple of TV news items caught my attention recently.  One concerned the huge numbers of British people who have said farewell to doom and gloom and have moved – lock, stock and wine barrels – to France.  Unfortunately, the French Government, fearing a funding crisis in its health provision, has said that free health care for increasingly elderly ex-pats cannot be guaranteed.

A similar item concerned British emigrants to Spain.  One imagines that the Spanish government will respond in a similar way to the French.

In both instances, however, the thing that glowed through was the fact that people were enjoying themselves in a supportive, friendly  environment.  One lady, probably in her eighth decade of life, was ecstatic about the fact that her close friends were all around her and that everyone in the ‘little British outpost’ tended to stay healthier  and to live happier, longer lives.

Well, now it’s official.  Close friends can really make a difference.

We’re talking true, stick to your side no matter what friends.

As we age, they’re the spice that keeps us vibrant and challenged. They’re also good medicine. When your body sags, long time buddies lift you up. When you’re
sick and bedridden, they brighten your outlook. When death comes knocking, they slam the door on evil thoughts.

“Good friends are the difference between just existing and living,” says Paula David, a social worker at a residential home for the elderly. “The beauty (of lifelong friends) is you’re lucky enough to know someone who’s gone through the different stages in your life and who you can reminisce with.

Stressful events like the death of a partner, divorce or isolation from others are believed to lower the body’s normal defences. Various studies have now shown that if you have strong friendships and good community support, your chances of suffering life-threatening illnesses, such as cancers and heart disease, are greatly reduced.

However, in our increasingly hectic lives, many of us lose track of old friends; the number of friends declines; our work patterns and lifestyles make it very difficult to make new friends, even to pass the time of day sometimes.

There are, of course, routes to a solution, but it all depends on your own situation.  For some, joining a walking group will work.  Others might enrol with a book club or society related to their special hobbies.

However, more and more lonely people are using the internet. The phenomenal rise and rise of websites such as Facebook, Friends Reunited and huge friendship and dating sites has been embraced by all age groups. Surprising everyone, it is the over 55s  who are taking up their mice and discovering  new worlds of friends, relatives, interest groups and much more.

Making friends, both old and new, needs bravery, a bit of wisdom about human nature, a healthy dose of good luck and access to reputable starting point.

Unashamedly, anyone looking for old friends, who have not been on the radar for a while, could take a look at Friends Reunited.  Anyone looking for new friends who share interests and an ethical philosophy on life could do a search on Natural Friends, Britain’s very first friendship service – founded in 1985”

©Natural Friends (Culford) Ltd.

Many thanks to James for his insights and to him and his wife, Barbara, for providing a wonderful friendship and dating site. It was through Natural Friends that I met my best friend, soul-mate and partner, Steve.