Friendships Worth Keeping

Could a Friendship Save a Life? "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." This quote by C. S. Lewis is indeed true in that friendship gives us a purpose in life, helping many of us wake up and get out of bed in the morning. Without companions in our life there wouldn’t be anyone or anything to share the great and not so great moments that occur in our lives. But is Lewis right about friendship not having any survival value whatsoever and being “unnecessary”? This question has been asked for several centuries and has still been debated until recent studies have proven that friendship undoubtedly improves our health and could even maybe save our lives. (Collingwood 1) (Hatfield)Although friendships take months and even years to build, with these new studies, we might find that taking the time to build more friendships would be well worth our time. Friendship is a deep companionship that can take time and effort to develop but can ultimately benefit our health by helping us live longer, happier lives. Friendship is defined as a distinctively personal relationship that is grounded in a concern on the part of each friend for the welfare of the other, for the other’s sake, and that involves some degree of intimacy. Friends are present in our live for more than just the company. (Helm 1) They can be our moral support for our accomplishments and downfalls, our own personal therapists when going through hard times, or even take the place of a family member or significant other. Friends play so many significant roles that we need to choose wisely when selecting the people we surround ourselves with. A toxic or corrupt friendship could lead us into many problems and complications that can be avoided when picking a good companion. While having a friend is important to our sanity and health, having a “bad” or insincere friend can really hurt us in several ways and

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