Knowing your friends will help you connect better and reinforce your friendships. Friends prevent isolation and loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship. Friends can also increase your sense of belonging and purpose, boost your happiness, and reduce stress.

By Emile Fakhoury
Do not mix between colleagues and friends. Your colleague will never be your friend as they will always follow the organisation's regulations and instructions above your friendships.

Also, as the leader of a team, managing friendships at work can feel tricky, especially when those friendships involve people you manage.

Developing friendships outside of work is essential; it will pay off in better health and a brighter outlook for years.

Friendships create a foundation for developing social skills, advancing our careers…and enjoying compassion and support."

As friendship is essential for health and happiness, it is important to know your friend well before you give your full trust. I believe you would know and build trust with your friends if you perform all these activities:

-Travel with your friend(s):
When you travel with your friends, you experience new places and have adventures that bond your relationship with them. Travelling helps you understand yourself and your friends. It is a perfect activity to reduce stress and enjoy good quality time with the friends you trust.

-Money is involved:
This has both top and bottom sides, but if managed well, it will boost your friendships. If you trust your friend, you could be business partners or cover one another. This happens when the relationship matures, and trust is well established.

-Deal with them when they’re angry:
When things are well, and everyone is happy, things move smoothly, but you won’t know the true friendship unless they respect and trust you when you are angry. They keep your secrets and won’t hurt you or revenge even if you make them angry. True friendship is put to the test when anger is present.

- Live with them:
If you live or eat with your friends, you will discover each other personalities in detail. Living with each other will unveil all the unknown sides of personalities. From my personal experiences, a genuine friendship lasts longer when you spend more time with your friends, experience challenges, and help each other.

Maintaining healthy friendships involves give-and-take, and letting friends know you care about them and appreciate them can help strengthen your bonds. To nurture your friendships, you should both support the relationship and live by these rules:

-Be kind:
This behaviour remains the core of successful relationships. Every act of kindness and gratitude supports your friendships, while negativity draws them down.

-Be a good listener:
When friends share details of difficult experiences, be empathetic, listen and support their needs.

-Open up:
Sharing personal experiences shows that your friend holds a special place in your life and deepens your connection. Open up about yourself to build intimacy with your friends. When your friends share confidential information, keep it private.

-Be available:
Please try to contact and see your friends regularly and check in with them between meet-ups. Today's technologies help you keep in touch with distant friends and maintain relationships.

Friendships are some of the most valuable relationships that we have in our lives. They provide us emotional support, encouragement, and a sense of belonging.

However, maintaining friendships can be challenging as life circumstances change. But their impact on our emotional and mental health is worth taking time to foster those relationships.