You gotta have friends. More than that, you gotta make time to see and speak to those friends. Friends make you laugh, allow you to vent your frustrations, they support, encourage and celebrate your successes, and they bring the best out in you. If that’s not worth making the time for, I don’t know what is!
One of my goals for 2013 was to spend more time with friends, and not keep saying “oh we really should do this more often”, but to actually DO ‘this’ more often. It was a joy. It was so nice to see my closest friends more often, and not to spend half the day thinking ‘we should do this more often’! And all it takes is a bit of organisation.
Ok, a couple of my friends I haven’t seen in months or years, because life stuff got in the way…but all it will take is for both of us to get our diaries out and set a date. (Again) It won’t always work out, but there’s a better chance if you have a date in the diary than if you don’t.
If you don’t arrange it, you’ll think “we’ll get together tomorrow” …and tomorrow never comes. Do it now. Get in touch with your bezzie and arrange a catchup. Get in touch with a friend you wish you saw more of and arrange to see more of them. Get in touch with an old friend you haven’t seen in 10 years and arrange a date to get together.
Don’t let life get in the way. Yeah you’ve got work and chores and family to take care of, and no time to see your friends. Make time. Do lunch, leave the ironing in favour of a night out with a friend, invite your friends round so you don’t need a babysitter. Friends want to see you, they’re not fussed where. Rather than waiting 21 years til the kids are old enough, get your friends round. And if they have kids, go to the park together.
Sometimes I am a complete hermit (usually in Winter) and I can go for weeks without seeing any of my friends – to the point that I forget I have friends and start singing “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me I think I’m gonna eat worms”. But the truth is that I do have friends, I just haven’t been in touch with them for a while!
In these busy times, it’s far too easy to get isolated and feel alone when there’s no need. Call your friends, arrange to see them, not just text or fb chat – online connection is great, but it’s no substitute for real people. People you can laugh with and talk to and reminisce with and have fun with – your people. Put friend time at the top of your priority list today.
PS This article is an excerpt from my fabulous book “Fall in Love With Life” – for more details and to buy, click here.