As I sat alone in my office for my daily “quiet time” during my son’s nap, the phone rang. On the other end was old friend of mine. We had fallen out of touch with each other after some events that took place. It had been over four years since we where had talked. We chatted for about an hour and made plans to meet for coffee in a couple of days.

Four years, it seems like a life time had happen to me over that time. So, much had changed. I feel that I had grown so much as a person over that time, not to mention the total transformation of my life as I entered into motherhood. I was with my soul mate, that alone has changed my life so profoundly. Who knew how much could change? I was happy to be talking to the one person that over the years I had been missing, my oldest and dearest friend.

It had occurred to me, there were all different types of situations that cause us to treat our friendships as if they are the expendable, something that we can do without, nothing could be further from the truth. Human Being as complex creatures depend on our relationships with others. Once a survival tactic, with the mentality that there is safety in numbers, now has evolved to a human need. We need social interaction with others; we need other to share ideas. As human beings it is vital to us to have connections to others, it is needed to create and maintain families and communities. We need to love and to be loved. Yet, when our lives get busy, when we are in negative relationships, or for whatever other reason, we start by pulling away from others. Whether it is by choice or not.

When my life got busy my social activities was the one thing that was easiest to give away. I don’t know why, I just stopped making time for my friends, stopped going out. Our friendships might be the most expendable, but they are also the missed the most. It makes a big difference to have friends to share things with, to have a girls night out, someone that we can turn to when things get tough.

Why are relationships other than our spouses and family important?

• It helps us maintain our own identity
• It helps us stay connected to the world
• It allows us to have a break from the day to day
• It is a way to engage in interesting conversation
• It allows us to share and release feeling and emotions
• Friends can be great cheerleaders and good shoulders to cry on

Remember to make time for the people in your life and to tell them how grateful you are to have them in your life.