Parents often encourage their children to make friends, as it’s plain to see how important good friendships are in childhood. Friends are a support system and they’re vital for social development. However, as people enter adulthood, friends have a bad habit of slipping away.
Often, this is because life simply gets in the way. Childhood friends move away from each other and, despite best intentions and efforts, rarely get a chance to meet up. Work and family responsibilities take precedence over friends, meaning that you’re never able to find time for each other. It’s easy to find that, after a few years, you don’t have many friends, if any.
The Importance of Friends in Adulthood
Friends aren’t only important for children. While maintaining friendships is more difficult in adulthood, it’s no less vital for our wellbeing. While responsibilities are important and take priority over “fun” things, it doesn’t mean that we should push out all “fun” activities.
Simply put, friends make life more enjoyable. Even doing something as simple as watching tv or a movie can be far more fun when you watch with people you have fun with. But even more than that, you can do things with friends. You can see shows and go to bars and let the anxieties of your responsibilities wash away for a few hours.
This stops people from becoming overwhelmed. The fact is that life is hard. But a good friend can make it more enjoyable. The fun times can be enriched with someone by your side, but a friend can also help during more difficult times as well.
Maintaining healthy friendships is beneficial for our mental health, as it prevents us from getting lonely. If you feel down, you know that someone cares about you. Life is more stressful as an adult, and that’s why you need friends just as much as in childhood.
Finding Friendships
However, finding friends is difficult, especially as an adult. When you’re a child, you can sit next to someone at school and end up with a friendship that lasts for decades. As an adult, things are more complicated.
Some people still have friends from their childhood, but many have lost touch over the years. Things change and so do people. Even if your childhood friendship just faded away, sometimes it’s impossible to rekindle that friendship as you’re both too different now.
However, while making friends isn’t easy, it is possible. Some people make friends at work, but this isn’t always viable. Thankfully, you aren’t alone in wanting more friends. One thing you can do is to look online for an arranged meetup. Essentially, people with things in common arrange to get together and meet up at a pub or bar. Maybe you’ll have a fun night out, maybe you’ll leave with a lifelong friend.
On a similar note, if you have an interest that you can share with other people, then you may be able to find an online group of people with similar interests. You can chat with these people or meet up with them in real life. Arrange outings and, you never know, you may end up making some great friends while you’re at it.
Keeping Friendships
Making friends in the first place is one of the biggest hurdles to having friendships in adulthood, but keeping the friendship going is at least as difficult. You might meet someone that you get on great with, but when it comes to spending time with them, schedules clash.
Sometimes, there is little you can do about this. But, chances are, there will be a time when you’re both free. Maybe you just need to plan well in advance and be organized. While social hangouts might not strike you as the most important thing in your schedule, they do matter. Neglecting a friendship can mean that all the hard work you put into making a friend can be for nothing.
Make them a priority wherever you can. If you don’t have the energy to go out, then invite them over for a relaxed meal or to simply vegetate in front of the television. If you want, invite them to have a drink and stay for a weekend. Keep in touch with them via your phone and social media, but don’t neglect face-to-face meetings.
Another way to spend more time with your friends is to go away on vacation. A road trip is a great budget option, and you can go for as long as you want. Whatever you do, just put in the work and it’ll be worth it.