{"id":133842,"date":"2024-10-18T12:04:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T16:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=133842"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:56:00","slug":"losing-touch-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/losing-touch-with-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"You Should Make an Effort Not to Lose Touch With Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Have you lost touch with your friends? Why should you try to maintain your friendships?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her book <em>The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, <\/em>one common <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/deathbed-regrets-2\/\">deathbed regret<\/a> that patients expressed was that they didn&#8217;t make an effort to maintain their friendships. While family feel obligated to visit you, real friends are invaluable in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s why you should put in effort to keep your friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/personal-life\/relationships\/friendship-guide\/\">Shortform\u2019s guide to friendships<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-regret-of-losing-touch-with-friends\"><strong>The Regret of Losing Touch With Friends<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ware writes that many of her patients regretted losing touch with friends<strong>. <\/strong>As people get busy with work and family, friendships often fall by the wayside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ware shares how one of her patients, Doris, felt lonely in a nursing home. She didn\u2019t have any family around because her daughter was living in a different county, busy with her own life. Doris told Ware that she longed for the company of her friends and wished that she hadn\u2019t let her friendships fade. After some research, Ware was able to contact one of Doris\u2019s old friends and facilitated a phone call between the two, which lifted Doris\u2019s spirits and brought her happiness in her final days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Why is it hard to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-maintain-friendships\/\">maintain friendships<\/a> later in life? Experts explain that friendships develop through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/jessica-stillman\/psychology-relationships-adult-friends.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unplanned interactions and shared experiences<\/a>, and we simply experience fewer of these as we grow older. While work and family responsibilities get in the way of the 50 to 200 hours it takes to make friends, it\u2019s still possible to nurture friendships in adulthood\u2014you just have to be intentional. Organize regular group activities like book clubs, potlucks, or hikes to keep your friendships going strong as you age.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Friendships Are Good for Your Health<\/strong><br><br>Spiritual leaders and researchers alike argue that relationships aren\u2019t just nice to have\u2014they\u2019re essential for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/good-health-and-happiness\/\">health and happiness<\/a>. In <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-art-of-happiness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Art of Happiness<\/em><\/a>, the Dalai Lama asserts that <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-art-of-happiness\/part-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">there are two reasons we need other humans<\/a>: First, we literally depend on other people because they create and provide the goods and services we need to survive, such as our homes, food, and so on. Second, he says we need to interact with other humans to make us happy.<br><br>In <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-good-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Good Life<\/em><\/a>, Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz elaborate on why we need such interactions to be happy: Loneliness is a <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-good-life#understanding-the-good-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stress response<\/a>. For our ancestors, being isolated from the group was dangerous and reduced their chances of survival, so loneliness evolved as an early warning system to motivate them to connect and form <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/realationships-with-others\/\">relationships with others<\/a>. Today, we still feel this stress when we\u2019re isolated, even if we\u2019re not in physical danger. Nurturing our friendships prevents the pain of loneliness and fulfills a deep-rooted need for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-human-connection\/\">human connection<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-recognize-the-value-of-real-friends\">Recognize the Value of Real Friends<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Ware suggests you <strong>recognize the value of real friends<\/strong>: people who care about you, stick with you through difficult times, and accept you for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-genius\/\">who you are<\/a>. She explains that surrounding yourself with the wrong people can leave you feeling lonely, even if you\u2019re not alone, because those people don\u2019t truly understand or accept you. And unlike family, who may sometimes expect you to be a certain way, real friends are happy with you the way that you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spending time with real friends who share <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-you-curious-about\/\">your interests<\/a>, experiences, and philosophies makes you feel like you belong somewhere and that people care about you. So, when you find a real friend, put in the effort to reach out and maintain your relationship with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Three Types of Friendship<\/strong><br><br>The real friends that Ware refers to are likely <em>virtue friends<\/em>\u2014the highest of <a href=\"https:\/\/philosophybreak.com\/articles\/aristotle-on-the-3-types-of-friendship-and-how-they-enrich-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three types of friendship<\/a> according to Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. These friendships are based on mutual care, understanding, and values. The two other types of friendship are <em>utility<\/em>, which are friendships based on what you can do for each other, and <em>pleasure<\/em>, or friendships based on enjoying shared activities.<br><br>While friendships of utility and pleasure have their place, Aristotle, like Ware, argues that virtuous friendships are the most fulfilling and important for living a good, happy life. These friendships take time and effort to develop, as they require really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/getting-to-know-someone\/\">getting to know someone<\/a>, and they\u2019re based on selfless care and wanting the best for the other person.<br><br>Aristotle points out that you can only maintain a small number of virtue friendships because of the intimacy and commitment they require. So when you find these rare friends who uplift and accept you, invest the time to strengthen those bonds, even if that means having fewer casual friendships.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you lost touch with your friends? Why should you try to maintain your friendships? In her book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, one common deathbed regret that patients expressed was that they didn&#8217;t make an effort to maintain their friendships. While family feel obligated to visit you, real friends are invaluable in life. Here&#8217;s why you should put in effort to keep your friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":133911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,12],"tags":[1639],"class_list":["post-133842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-relationships","tag-the-top-five-regrets-of-the-dying","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>You Should Make an Effort Not to Lose Touch With Friends - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It&#039;s easy to lose touch with friends. 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