The busy lifestyle led by adults has rendered it difficult for them to find good friends and maintain meaningful relationships. Good relationships are established on mutual respect sharing and enjoying common interests, and for time spent together.
In selecting your friends, take note of the interests, hobbies and activities that you enjoy most. Specialized clubs such as model airplanes, gardening and crafts bring groups of people together on a regular basis and if common interests are identified then a lasting friendship will emerge and develop.
If friendships are to last then you must be willing to:
• Devote time to groups within your regular social circles. These groups may include church groups, community service organizations or your favorite coffee shop. Be sure to talk to the people whom you see regularly.
• Allot a few minutes of your time each day to the people with whom you work. Your colleagues may get the impression that you are standoffish, too busy for them or simply not interested in them if you are always “going about your business” in a rush. The quality friendship that you develop with your coworkers may surprise you when you give them your time.
• Become a member of social clubs like Elks, Masons and others that exist in your community; or seek out bowling leagues and other sports organizations that are of interest to you.
• Make reading the community announcements in the local newspaper a habit. This enables you to know if the library or Junior College had adult education classes which interest you. This affords you the opportunity to meet with a set of people over a period of time and gives you the chance to find friendships through engaging in group projects, assisting others to study or you being assisted yourself.
• Call, visit or email new associates so that they will know you are thinking about them and are concerned about how they are doing.
• Listen to your new friends if they have problems and give a helping hand if the need arises. Shared skills are invaluable assets to forming friendships.
• Converse with the people you meet at sporting good stores. Share tips on fishing tackle or a favorite fishing hole; or just give advice on the golf course that has the fastest tees and smoothest fairways. Relationships that are established with someone in a place such as this can lead to outings and the sharing of your pastime.
• Check out activities in your area using craiglist.org. A number of them are free and may be your ticket to meeting adults with the same interests as yours.