Humans were not created to live alone. If you look at earliest societies, they lived in tribes and communities. Within the tribe, there was a leader/elder that served as a modern-day counselor/coach/therapist/legal counsel and judge. The elder solved problems and settled disputes. Each tribe honored the rules and regulation and respected the boundaries between the villages. They hunted during hunting seasons, ate seasonal crops, traded goods, moved when they exhausted local resources and lived simply.

While living in civilized times are far from hunting and bartering, we still need help and support from many individuals though they may not be in our trip. Chances are that you or someone you know has or is seeing a therapist, counselor or life coach and not to forget that as civilized citizens, we need legal counsel to represent us and help us understand the terminology that was designed to create complexity. So, we can all agree that living in modern days has become very complicated. Even though our lives are more complicated, one thing remains the same; we need our village.

There is so much research proving that having a village (support system) helps get us through challenging times. I remember reading an article published by the University at Buffalo School of Social Work on the importance of developing a support system. According to the article “those with robust social support networks have better health, longer lives, and report higher well-being. Friends and loved ones can make you more resilient in times of stress, setback, or loss and they can also make the good times even better.” The article further explains that those close to us can recognize that we are stressed, sometimes even before we care to admit it.

Here is a link to the full article: http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit/additional-self-care-resources/developing-your-support-system.html#title_1

Happy Friends making!!!