With social media, we are connected to hundreds, sometimes thousands of people in an instant. No longer do we lose touch with friends from school or college that once were important but whom we slowly drifted away from as we grew older. Now, we are connected to everyone all the time. But are these surface level friendships better for us?
While it’s wonderful to open your world to so many different people with new ideas and opinions, having too many friends just isn’t viable. Even the most outgoing among us will struggle to maintain deep relationships with a large number of friends.
Being torn between countless birthdays, parties, weddings, christenings, housewarmings and dinners on top of remembering the details of each relationship becomes an exhausting task that can leave us feeling drained. This can cause us to perform poorly in other areas of our lives as well.
Surround yourself with those who bring you love, joy and respect. You should feel renewed after spending time with friends, not exhausted.
However, this isn’t to say that you should limit yourself to only two or three friendships – not at all. Only you can figure out what is best for you. Remember this handy piece of advice: it’s okay to say no. You don’t have to be everything for everyone.
The old idiom “less is more” rings true in so many ways. Is it really any surprise that it’s better for your mental health to have fewer close friends as opposed to many surface level friends?
To learn more about your relationship patterns and behaviours, individual relationship counselling provides an outlet to explore your friendships in a safe space.
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