We all faced this problem: the older you get, the harder it is for you to make friends. There are many reasons for that: with age, trust becomes a luxury, and it’s not that easy anymore to open up for new friendship. So finding friends, and then not losing them is not an easy task, and we will give you a few recommendations on how to do this.
Where to find new friends
Work. You spend most of your life with colleagues then you sometimes do with your family. For sure you have some guys out there you really think are cool and you can talk about anything together. Instead of putting them into the “Colleagues” tag, try to befriend them. Go out for a drink after work, invite them over to your place to watch a football game. If you are married – that’s even better. Call them on for a family dinner, but make sure each one of them brings his wife or girlfriend.
Befriend your neighbours. Today, knowing your neighbors is not a big deal, and most of the people don’t bother themselves to check who are they living with around on their neighborhood. You know, before, everyone knew his neighbors on the same corridor, same floor, the floor above and one level below. They made a family dinner, shared kitchen equipment, salt, and sugar. My family even used to leave keys from our flat to the neighbors when we went out for the vacation to make sure they water our plants and feed our parrot. It wasn’t half bad, was it? Imagine, your new friend can live next doors! Don’t be shy. Get to know him.
Find a hobby. Why its so hard to find friends? Because our lives are closed. We already discussed finding friends at your workplace. But what if you widen your circle of interest a little bit? For example a sport. Get a gym membership. New people, new acquaintances. Or go out to play some football in your neighborhood. Join a local team if you are good enough. Become friends with your team and enemies team. Who knows how that will play out? You can also get a puppy and go out to the nearest park every morning. Dog lovers are at every corner.
There are plenty of ways to meet new people, all you need to do is be creative and have some motivation!
How to maintain the friendship
When you become friends with someone, it’s critical to maintain the relationship. If you are good friends, make sure you hold strong as much as you can. Otherwise, your relationship can go away like a muscle mass without training. Best way to maintain a friendship – is to keep in touch. We will give you some other ideas to consider.
Set a common goal. The best way to get close is to work on something common, to pursue a common goal. For example, decide to do something together: run a marathon, quit smoking or lose weight. This is good for one simple reason: you will not be able to lie to each other, you will support each other, which means you will have a smaller chance of not achieving the goal. For example, if you decide to lose weight, agree to either exercise together, or share the result achieved during the week. Even if you live in different cities or even countries, with today’s technology, you can support your friend and strengthen your relationship regardless of the distance.
Create a competition. The competition is a double-edged sword. It can cause a fight between two people, and at the same time – strengthen the bond. Come up with some interesting competition, and let the one who lost do something a little awkward and funny for everyone else – that will add some spice. This may be a competition for growing beards or something more serious – for example, not drinking alcohol for two months. The competition requires regular meetings and check of the situation – besides, on such meetings, you will always find something to talk about.
Get a vacation together. Sometimes you need to rest – not only from work but also from the daily life routine. To solve this, arrange a trip with your friends. It can be anywhere – 3 days camping out in the mountains, two days fishing trip on the river, or even ten days trip to another country. We do not urge you to spend all your holidays to spend time with your friends – but the weekend is not a bad time for this.
Go for a party. This is the talk of the town: dudes go to have fun at night, while their girlfriends are burning with anger. And for this reason, men these days abandon such a wonderful tradition. Don’t be one of them. Of course, one should not forget about his girlfriend, neglect her and act in spite of her, but one should not forget about his dudes either. Sometimes you need to take a break from each other – let them invite girlfriends while you are having fun with your friends. This will only strengthen your relationship. Another good option is to play cards with friends. Great way to have fun for everyone, we promise!
To maintain any relationship, including male friendship, communication is necessary. There is no need for 1-hour phone calls two times a day. But today you have all means of communication required: WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Telegram, even a simple e-mail will do.
Don’t forget to share some news, ask about life or send a beautiful photo of your hometown sunset. Resend memes, discuss news or send funny videos to each other. Don’t wait till your friend texts you first – do it yourself!
Strong friendship to everyone!
Got any other tips to maintain a friendship? Let us know in the comments!
