Stay in Touch with Your Friends

Three reasons calling friends became one of Josh's best habits, and why distance was never the real excuse. Short, and worth acting on today.

May 19, 2026

I often listen to music or a podcast when driving, washing dishes, taking a walk.

It’s a way to put my brain in a certain mood. It gives me a sense of companionship, interaction…

Over the last few years though, I have developed a habit of sensing my desire for connection, and giving a friend a call.

I do it a lot now, when I have a free moment.

I wanted to share some of the reasons calling friends often has become so important to me.

1. Staying in touch with friends (long distance) is worth its weight in gold.

I don’t want to be someone who can only have a solid connection if we stay in the same location. Because how likely is that? Life changes, people move around a lot. The ability we have today to do video calls and international calls is so unique. We can with low effort have regular touchpoints with certain friendships that are just too valuable to let fade slowly from our lives.

Staying involved in your friends’ lives is meaningful to both you and them.

2. Friends appreciate being checked in on.

God knows I do too. Extending your heart’s awareness to someone else’s life and world is a good practice. I think that’s part of what prayer is, when you pray for others. It’s an important practice to foster concern for your homie’s lives. Awareness first, otherwise you won’t be able to care much. Ask questions. Get to the bottom of things. Care to know the answer! It’s on calls that I get to hear how my friends are really doing. Sure, Instagram or Facebook can give you the highlights. But it’s arguably much more important to know what’s hard in your friend’s life.

I always love getting a call when someone tells me, “just wanted to see how you’re doing”.

I want to show up like that, too.

3. Friends need encouragement.

A joyful greeting and a “you’ve got this” from a phone call can make my day. Especially if it hasn’t been a very good day. We need courage and hope to live. And we can give that to each other.

Thanks for tagging along, friends. Give someone a call today.

— Josh Caliguire