What Is the Value of Friendship?
Courtney: Whether you have a large group of friends, or just one or two close ones, it is important to make friendship a priority in your life.
Courtney: Friends can really increase your happiness, boost your confidence, and help you cope with difficult situations. They can encourage you to get out more, change unhealthy habits, and help improve both your physical and mental health.
Courtney: Naturally, one of the greatest things about friendship is that you always have someone to accompany you, whether you want to travel abroad, grab brunch, or even just hang out and run errands in your neighborhood.
Courtney: But there are other bonuses as well. Friendship comes with an unconditional support system. When you have a difficult decision to make, friends can really help make the process easier.
Courtney: Good friends will persuade you to make the right choice, even when that involves doing something that may be extremely challenging for you. They then give you courage to follow through with your decision.
Courtney: It can really give you a sense of security to know that even if things don’t work out, your friends will always be there for you.
Vocabulary:
priority – something that is very important and must be dealt with before other things, “Making time for exercise should be a top priority if you want to stay healthy.”
boost your confidence – to increase or improve your belief in your own abilities, value, and strengths, “Succeeding on the math test really helped boost his confidence.”
cope with – to deal successfully with a difficult situation, stress, or problem, “He listens to peaceful music to cope with work stress.”
habits – things that you do regularly, repeatedly, and often automatically without thinking about them, “Reading a book before bed is one of her best daily habits.”
mental health – a person’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being, “Taking a break from social media can be wonderful for your mental health.”
accompany – to go somewhere with someone as a companion or helper, “My sister asked me to accompany her to the doctor’s office.”
travel abroad – to go on a trip to a foreign country, “She saved money for a year so she could travel abroad to Japan.”
grab brunch – a casual phrase meaning to go out and eat a meal that combines breakfast and lunch, usually in the late morning, “Let’s grab brunch this Sunday and catch up on everything.”
hang out – to spend time relaxing, chatting, or socializing with someone in an informal way, “On rainy days, we just like to hang out at home and watch movies.”
run errands – to go on short trips to complete everyday tasks or chores, like grocery shopping or picking up packages, “I need to run errands this afternoon, including a quick stop at the post office.”
unconditional support system – a group of people (like friends or family) who will always help, encourage, and care for you, no matter what happens or what mistakes you make, “Her family provided an unconditional support system while she was studying for her difficult exams.”
process – a series of actions, steps, or stages taken to achieve a specific result, “Learning how to cook is a slow process, but it is very rewarding.”
persuade – to convince someone to do or believe something by giving them good reasons or arguments, “The salesperson tried to persuade me to buy the more expensive phone.”
challenging – difficult in a way that tests your abilities, skills, or patience, “Climbing the steep mountain was challenging, but the view from the top was worth it.”
follow through with – to complete or finish an action, plan, or decision that you started or promised to do, “If you promise to help your friend paint their room, you must follow through with it.”
sense of security – a feeling of being safe, protected, and free from worry, danger, or anxiety, “Having a locked front door gives her a great sense of security at night.”
work out – to happen, develop, or end in a successful, happy, or satisfactory way, “Don’t worry too much about the future; things usually work out in the end.”