Building Lasting Friendships: A Guide for Adults
Friendships are some of the most important relationships a person can have. In fact, having friends can improve your health and enrich your life, according to The Mayo Clinic. The making friends part of it might be a bit daunting, especially if you are more of a shy and timid person. Below are a few things you can do to make the process of forming new friendships easier. And hopefully they will also help you keep and nurture those friendships for many years to come.
Making friends as children and as adults
You may think it’s easier for children to make friends than for adults. You may even be right. Kids that go to school have a built-in social environment that is conducive to meeting people and building new relationships. However, Psychology Today explains that there are many ways in which it is easier to make friends as an adult.
Adults usually have more confidence and less fear of rejection compared to a child. This combined with adults being more self aware can help you form quality friendships as an adult, perhaps even friendships that last longer. Knowing yourself can guide you to the right kind of people, people that you enjoy spending time with and are actually good for you.
Children in school don’t always have that luxury, as they often form friendships based on convenience and availability. Which is also fine and can create meaningful relationships. Creating a relationship as a self aware adult, however, can hopefully lead to friendships with a deeper quality to them.
Finding new friends
You can find new friends if you keep these three things in mind: proximity, repetition and similarity, according to Psychology Today. Proximity means it is people that either live near you or you have easy access to, geographically. Repetition is about the frequency, being exposed to the person over and over again. And lastly, similarity helps you make sure the relationship will last. It is easier and perhaps more enjoyable to spend time with some who has the same or similar interests, hobbies, or is simply a similar type of person to you.
Once you have found someone you’d like to be friends with, The Washington Post recommends you plan shared activities together, such as plan to exercise together. Another great tip is to set a time and date for the next outing before you part ways. That way it’s in your calendar and so much easier to make it happen and not get caught up in the daily grind, pushing friendships off.
Life can get busy and hectic. That’s why the Better Up mental health provider stresses you really have to commit to making an effort or it won’t happen. Push yourself a bit, go the extra mile, and make it happen. The friendships you will form will be worth it.