by Stephanie Epplett

Created on: April 30, 2008   Last Updated: February 23, 2012

A small group of quality people whose company you enjoy is far more rewarding than a large group of people with whom one may casually spend time with, but have very little in common with. Having a smaller more intimate group of friends is more sustainable than large groups of friends are. With a smaller group of friends you can and easily establish relationships based on intimacy, shared ideas and likes and develop a support system for yourself and your family.

With a small group of friends, you get the benefit of closeness and intimacy. Having a few good friends with whom you can build strong and solid relationships based on common factors can be good for the individuals involved as well as any family members. When you have just a small group of friends, you naturally develop closeness and a bond that can be lost in large groups. Granted you may not get invited to as many weddings, birthday parties or showers, but you will be rewarded with quality and you will save money on gifts.

Aside from the benefits and intimacy, small groups of friends can be far less draining than large groups can be. When associating with a small group, it is far easier to schedule time to nurture your friendship, when you aren't trying to spread your precious time around to too many people. The larger the group the more parties and dinners you are invited too, this leads to time constraints and often to hurt feelings. When keeping your group small, it's much easier to manage parties and dinners, allowing you to relax and enjoy the company you are in.

Small groups also offer a natural support group. When you have a small intimate group of friends and have built a strong bond amongst yourselves, you develop a natural support group of people who truly care and are willing to be there for you despite the time or difficulty you may be facing. This is often lost in large groups where the relationships are more casual.

A small group of friends is also family friendly. It's more probable that you will do family activities with a small group of friends and individual activities with a large group of friends. It's much easier to schedule family outings when your group of friends is smaller. With the average family consisting of 2.3 kids, activities such as bike riding, camping, boating or even scrap booking is much easier and memorable with 12 of you than with 30 people. Too many people in any given situation is a recipe for disaster, keeping your group of friends small is more likely to produce a memorable trip for the fun it was and not the chaos.

Aside from the benefits a small group of friends can offer, it's important to remember that quality is always more rewarding than quantity.

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