Friendships can have a major impact on your health and happiness, but it’s not always easy to develop or maintain friendships. It’s necessary to understand the importance of social connection in your life and how to meet new friends.

Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent isolation and loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends also play a significant role in promoting your overall health. Adults with strong social connections have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI). In fact, studies have found that older adults who have meaningful relationships and social support are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections.

Many adults find it hard to develop new friendships or keep up existing friendships. Friendships may take a back seat to other priorities, such as work or caring for children or aging parents. You and your friends may have grown apart due to changes in your lives or interests. Or maybe you’ve moved to a new community and haven’t yet found a way to meet people. Developing and maintaining good friendships takes effort. The enjoyment and comfort friendship can provide, however, makes the investment worthwhile.

So, what are some ways to meet new friends? It’s possible to develop friendships with people who are already in your social network. Think through people you’ve interacted with— even very casually— who made a positive impression. If anyone stands out in your memory as someone you’d like to know better, reach out. Ask mutual friends or acquaintances to share the person’s contact information, or— even better— to reintroduce the two of you with a text, email or in-person visit. Extend an invitation to coffee or lunch.

To meet new people who might become your friends, you have to go to places where others are gathered. Don’t limit yourself to one strategy for meeting people. The broader your efforts, the greater your likelihood of success. Persistence also matters. Take the initiative rather than waiting for invitations to come your way and keep trying. You may need to suggest plans a few times before you can tell if your interest in a new friend is mutual.

Before you make friends, you have to decide who you want to be your friends. Most people like to have friends who like to do the same kind of things they do.

The quickest way to make a friend is to smile. When you smile, people think you are friendly and easy to talk to. It may not be easy to smile at first, but remember most people will stay away from an angry­looking face.

One easy way to start a conversation with someone is to say something nice about them. Think about how great you feel when someone says something nice to you. Doesn't it make you want to keep talking to that person?

Ask your new friends questions about themselves. Who's their favourite singer, where do they live, what do they do after school, are all good questions to start a conversation. Make sure you have something to add to the conversation too. When someone asks you a question, do have an answer for him. There's nothing that will stop a conversation quicker than a shrug (耸肩) for an answer.

Kids who show an interest in other kids and who are kind and friendly make good friends. Remember, everyone wants to be around people who like to do similar things and people who are nice to them.

I think that a great friend is a great artist who can change my feeling about life greatly. When I talk about the person who influenced me most, I must think of my best friend quickly.

When I was in my university, one of my classmates sat beside me. His name is Wang Tao. He is my unforgettable friend in my life. He is good at study and handsome. Everyone knows that he is a genius of our university.

He is kind­hearted and is always ready to help others. But he doesn't like others to praise him, because he thinks what he did is common. There is an old saying: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Wang Tao sets a good example in many parts of my life.

I remembered that my math was mediocre at that time, but he was excellent in solving math questions. He often received high scores. Of course, I wished I could reach his level. When we talked all day long, he was always patient and polite to answer my math questions. Slowly, I made great progress in math. I passed the examination finally. Then we became friends naturally. And now, I still remember his strong will to study.

We know that we live in the society, so we all need a lot of friends. There are two kinds of friends, good ones and bad ones; bad friends may make our life failed, while good ones make our life successful. To me, Wang Tao is a very good friend. I learned so many advantages from him, and I became more and more excellent.

We separated three months ago. Now I miss him very much, and I hope that our friendship will continue to be just as strong as before after we graduated.