You have to rely on your friends

My circle of friends is diverse. I found my best friend in high school, I am now co-parenting the Labrador of a really nice specimen I met during my studies, and I was hanging out with a third one at the Dappermarkt in Amsterdam. And I love them all, but today just a little extra. It is, after all, Friendship Day.

You should celebrate friends. They are the projectiles that brighten your life when everything is a bit ‘meh’. Or they are the ones who pull you out of trouble when you make a mess of things. They tell you that too, but that privilege comes with being a friend. I think my days would be a lot less fun, dotted and colored, without the antics of my squad. Ha, how cool is that. But now it turns out they are not only useful for laughter and tears.

Friends are good for your health. Look, all those investments in evenings with white wine (you stay friends with them longer, read here just for a moment) and olives are indirectly just healthcare. I think we should be able to submit that to the insurer. Family doesn't have much effect on your condition, but your friends certainly do. One explanation is that you choose your friends yourself. Researchers from Michigan State University examined 30,000 people in 90 countries. And what turns out? People who value friendship see themselves as healthier and happier. Among the 50-plus community, they checked again if this was true. Yes, because older people who see friendship as a stressful thing also more often suffer from chronic ailments.

Look, you don't need more evidence than that. If you're thinking: but I only have one or two; don't panic. Research also shows that in a person's life, there are usually only three people to whom you really entrust EVERYTHING. So even those dirty little secrets, which you might normally prefer to tell with a polished edge.

A hundred hearts for my loyal friends. And I would (if I were you, you know) tag yours as a sign of nothing but love. Here by the way, do you find the step-by-step plan to end that friendship, in case you suddenly realize that you have a stowaway in the group.