- Doug Fowler
The importance of having close friends can’t be overstated. In the book ‘Younger Next Year’ author Chris Crowley has seven rules for healthy living called Harry’s Rules. The seventh rule is: Connect and Commit. What does that mean to me? Having a close friend or friends that I'm intentional about hanging out with as often as time permits or at least once a year.
One of my good friends lives about 6 hours away. Sometimes I visit and take my bike with me. We both love biking, it's something we have in common. Meeting up with a friend becomes a lot more enjoyable when we have something in common, like biking, that we can do together.
I've known Ron since high school back in the 1980's. We've started an annual tradition of riding a road biking event in north Georgia called "The Three Gap Fifty
" We just completed our second year and are already excited for next year. It might not seem like a lot of time to spend with a friend but, as busy as most of us are, sometimes it's the quality of the time spent together that's more important than the quantity.
A great thing about having a good friend is that it's easy to pick up where you left off no matter how long it's been.
Here's a #FKU50 challenge: reach out to that friend you haven't seen in a while. Talking on the phone is one thing, but actually meeting up and shaking hands or giving them a hug is quite another. We must all be intentional about maintaining our interpersonal friends and putting in the effort to keep those friendships alive.
My friend Jeff lives in Idaho and he invited me to visit him. I won't be driving this time, but I'm planning to Commit and Connect to go see my friend Jeff!! I encourage you to do the same.
