Inject your Life with a Regular Dose of Friends
This week has been a busy one at the Haroldsen house. We hosted a fundraiser for Utah’s governor, Gary Herbert, on Wednesday and what a great time it was. One of the best things about the event was that I was able to spend time with people I not only admire but who are also great friends of mine. Just the sight of good friends does something to boost the spirit and a night like the one we just had, with so many smiling faces around me, was like a big injection of joy.
Keeping yourself surrounded by your friends is about more than just having a good time, it’s essential to our wellbeing. POW survivors consistently talk about how having a buddy to talk to, to lean on, and to share their pain and hope with was one of the top reasons they were able to survive. Being with friends keeps you from feeling isolated, helps you keep life and what is truly important in perspective, bolsters your immune system, reduces stress, and gives you the energy and mood boost to get through demanding times.
I know we get so busy sometimes with work, errands, and family that we just don’t seem to have time to get together with others. But with all the benefits you get from having your friends around, it really should be a top priority. If you haven’t done so recently, gather together with those friends that are a positive and supportive influence and be sure you put regular gathers on your calendar and to do list. You should never be too busy to surround yourself with the very source that will help you climb your mountains and inject the kind of joy into your life that you are working towards.
Open Yourself Up to Unexpected Opportunities
Reaching your goals will always require a lot of hard work and focus, but random opportunity also plays a part in getting you where you want to be. However, you need get out and keep your life filled with friends, family, and activities that you enjoy in order to be open to these strange, coincidental opportunities.
The last month or so my focus has been on reconnecting with old friends and colleagues. So this past week when we headed to Indian Springs, California for the big pro tennis tournament there, I planned a dinner with Hal Morris, a very talented speaker who had previously worked for my company, and his family. The funny thing was, we ended up spending time with a number of other wonderful people we hadn’t expected to see.
At the tournament itself, we ran into a couple friends from Utah, Dr. Lynn Rassmussen and wife, who we don’t get to see frequently, and had a chance to do some catching up. Then my wife Kimberly got a call from her best friend, Susie, who now lives in Oregon. Susie, her husband, and his sister were driving down to California and mentioned that it was too bad they wouldn’t be able to take a detour to Utah. What a wonderful surprise it was to find out we’d all be in California at the same time. We were able to get together for an evening and had the most wonderful time.
As we left California, I was thinking about how we were able to spend time with so many wonderful people, and more than half of it hadn’t even been planned. I had started focusing on gathering friends around us and here it was happening more and more on its own. I can’t pretend I understand how it works but I do know that if you focus on what you want and open yourself up to opportunities, unexpected things will happen to support and advance your goals not to mention enriching your life with many pleasurable experiences.
