That's what friends are for.

I had the privilege of going to Jamaica to visit a good friend of mine from high school. It had been about 4 years since I had seen her and now that I’m back from a great trip, I started to think about my friends.

When you are in high school it seems like you could never have enough friends. You could have twenty from school, ten from camp, and another bunch from the sports teams you played on. Then you start to go through different stages in your life those numbers start to diminish and let me be the first to say that this is a good thing.

Like many things in life, quality is more important than quantity. By quality I mean the friends that are there for you, that you have fun with, and that support the person you are or want to become. I must say I have some lovely friends. They are each different and brilliant in their own way. I could not imagine my life without my friends.

There are the one’s you go on walks with, the one’s who you call to talk about anything, the one’s that make you laugh, the one’s that stick up for you, and the one’s that know you better than you know yourself. There are also those friends that live far away and those that you only talk to once every few months. However, you still cherish them because you know the moment you see each other again they will fall right back into your life. These are the type of friends that you keep as we get older. We no longer need friends to feel popular but rather to bring happiness into our life.

There was a great article written in Time Magazine in 2004 titled, “The Science of Happiness.” It discussed what science has discovered when it comes to making the human heart sing. Surprisingly it wasn’t a good education, children, marriage or even wealth. The answer was having good friends.

One of my 2007 resolutions is to really cherish my friends or should I say be their #1 fan. We all take things for granted sometimes and as a result we don’t take the time to say what we love and admire about one another. If you agree with me, add it to your 2007 resolutions list… based on research, it will do more for you than going to the gym.