A friendship expert has discovered that maintaining relationships takes work. Three habits can help. The research also confirms that keeping friends is good for your well-being, which solves a mystery that has plagued humanity since the invention of consciousness.
The researcher recommends three practices for connection. We don't know what they are because reading lifestyle articles is beneath us, but we can assume they involve texting back and remembering birthdays. Revolutionary stuff. Someone get the Nobel Committee on the phone.
This is the same species that invented derivatives trading. We built credit default swaps. We created synthetic CDOs squared. But apparently we needed a researcher to tell us that talking to people you like makes you feel better.
The headline admits the author works hard to stay close to friends, as if this deserves recognition. You know who else works hard? Day traders who wake up at 4am to lose money on pre-market moves they don't understand. They put in the hours. They show up. They get destroyed anyway.
The study confirms friendship is good for well-being. Know what else is good for well-being? Not checking your Robinhood account seventeen times during market hours while your wife asks why you're sweating at breakfast. Not refinancing your house to buy GameStop at $347. Not explaining to your father-in-law that NFTs are actually a sophisticated store of value.
But sure, let's focus on the real problem: people don't call their friends enough. Not the fact that retail traders keep confusing a casino with a pension plan.
The researcher says these three habits can help maintain friendships, which is comforting news for anyone who has ever wondered whether human connection requires intentional action or just sort of happens through osmosis and group chats you never read.
At least your friends won't ask you to explain why you're down 73% year-to-date on companies that don't have revenue.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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