Plan on catching up with old friends? Take a look at seven ways to rebuild a healthy relationship.
Friends are vital to our mental and physical wellbeing. However, reconnecting with old pals can be quite challenging if you aren’t prepared enough. While many reunions go off without a hitch, it’s fairly common for awkward silences, clashing opinions, or misunderstandings to occur.
In order to avoid such troubles, it’s important to show your friends how much you appreciate them. Getting to know them better will improve the bond you have, strengthen your relationship, and protect it against tough times in the future. To aid you in this regard, here are seven things that will help you reconnect with friends, rebuild your relationships, and rediscover what brought you together in the first place
Be prepared
There are quite a few things you can do to prepare yourself for meeting an old acquaintance. Take the time to explore possible avenues of conversation. What will you talk about during your time together? Will any sensitive topics come up? How well will you be able to handle potential awkwardness?
Brace yourself without feeling the need to become defensive. Be ready to accept criticism or a different opinion. Consider the ups and downs you’ve experienced in life, and be ready to tackle any questions regarding them with as much grace as possible.
Collaborate
Work together, play together, prosper together. By collaborating with friends through work and play, you are provided the opportunity for shared success. Forming a bond through work or leisure activities is a great way to reconnect.
By sharing these experiences, you create a stable foundation upon which you can repair, rekindle, or refresh any relationship. Explore projects you can work on together, try some fun cooperative games, or focus your efforts on a mutual passion. Every challenge you face together will increase trust, intimacy, and communication. No matter what it is you choose to do, doing it together will create a long-lasting connection.
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Commit to plans
Friends who flake aren’t good friends, are they? It’s a behavior that points to poor social skills or bad time management. At worst, it can erode even the strongest of friendships. So if you make a plan to spend time with a friend, commit to that plan completely.
Short of emergencies and unforeseen complications, there isn’t much that can excuse flakiness. Even though it might not be your intention, canceling plans signals to the other person that they are not a priority in your life. Be deliberate in your plan-making, do your best to stick to commitments, and don’t cancel anything unless you absolutely have to.
Go deep or go home
If you want to reconnect with someone in a meaningful way, you can’t be afraid to show your true colors. As we mentioned earlier, being prepared to talk about difficult or sensitive topics is a skill you need to hone as early as possible.
While it may be true that no one likes a sob story, a true friend will welcome your vulnerability with open arms. Reciprocity is important too, so make sure that you don’t talk about your own troubles too much. Try to find a balance where both of you feel free to express your innermost thoughts and feelings.
Share significant moments
Sharing memorable experiences is often a key factor behind the stability of long-term friendships. Going through a major life event together, whether it’s good or bad, bonds us in a way that will typically create a life-long connection.
If you haven’t done so already, get to know your friend’s family. Invite friends to your own family gatherings (where possible), attend social events together, and provide support for each other in stressful situations.
The gift of giving
Who doesn’t like getting gifts? Gift-giving is one of the easiest ways to show your appreciation for someone. Want to know what the key to successful gift-giving is? Don’t expect anything in return. Yes, it’s nice when someone replies in kind, but that shouldn’t matter to you. The whole point of a gift is that you give it freely.
Expecting something in return will influence your attitude negatively. In the long run, this can create resentment in your relationships. You can avoid this entirely by giving gifts for the right reasons. Whether it’s to show love, appreciation, empathy, or sympathy, gifts should come with no strings attached.
Turn off the GPS
Take a break from Skype calls and instant messaging. Find a way to drown out all the noise we have to deal with in daily life. Go on a camping trip, a climbing expedition, or grab a few necessities and take a leisurely cruise. At the end of the day, the destination isn’t nearly as important as the journey.
Your main aim is to find focus. With the constant distractions of smartphones, video games, and other technologies, it can be hard to maintain a meaningful conversation. Get rid of as many distractions as possible if you want heartfelt communication.
