Everyone has that friend who simply cannot be bothered to show up on time. Whether its your old drinking buddy from college who is perpetually recovering from the night before or your fabulous wanna be fashionista pal who needs hours to put an outfit together, these people can be infuriating. If you do not have a friend like this, we regret to inform you that you are that friend.

However, this is not a bad thing. Running late for everything actually comes with certain benefits that some of us might not be aware of. Did you know that people who run late are more likely to be successful and also tend to live a longer life? People who run late are not trying to mess up your day. The reasons are more deeply rooted than this.

These people are merely looking to avoid stress. While you find yourself getting all stressed out about the prospect of waiting for them, they are perfectly relaxed. Your friend is not looking to bother you, they are simply looking to make their lives a little bit easier by not being so willing to let the clock control their days.

These friends are also the type who try to get a lot of things done in a short period of time. This may seem like a bad thing but in reality, it is not. It is a very good quality to have in a normal context. It may infuriate a friend who is left waiting for you but there is very rarely any real malice involved. They just don’t know how much time has passed.

The main trait that is involved in these decisions is optimism. The latecomers are not looking to waste your time, they are simply too optimistic about their ability to fit a large number of tasks into a smaller time frame. They may have been proven wrong about this several times but they are still willing to make the same decisions over and over again.

Bear this in mind the next time you are ready to berate one of your pals for not “respecting your time”. These friends mean well and you might want to be nice to them. The statistics say that they are very likely to become successful! Optimism is good for our health and you should definitely be willing to give it a try sometime.