Will You Have the Friends You Need When You Need Friends the Most?
Most women desperately need female friendships, but we get so busy with the rest of our lives that it’s easy to shuffle finding and maintaining girlfriends to the bottom of the list. Yet, we need this safety net of girlfriends to help us more fully enjoy and make sense of the rest of our lives!
Who doesn’t fear being alone or lonely? Just when we think it will never happen to us, it might. It could be any one of a number of things that causes a cataclysmic change in our life. A move, divorce, job loss, retirement, empty nest or loss of a spouse. When we have a cadre of friends to call upon, we somehow can find our balance. Their support and understanding are as important to our well-being as our health and finances.
If you’re thinking, “Oh I have friends, I don’t need to worry,” be honest. Aren’t most of us on autopilot when it comes to friends? When’s the last time we took deliberate action to secure our relationships or upgrade our friend-making skills?
Because we can’t fabricate friends on demand, we need to continually think about nourishing our friends and making new friends. That way, our friends will be there for us at those critical times or life-changing events when we long for support, perspective, comfort, consolation or someone to help us just get outside of our head and go do something fun and maybe even a little crazy!
When’s the last time you made a new friend? How did it go? What did you do to break the ice? Have you let a new friendship slip by? Next time, what would you do differently?
We want to know your thinking and answers to these questions. One thing we’ve repeatedly seen is that women have a huge commitment to contributing to their immediate friendship circles and beyond. This blog offers the opportunity to not only think about friendships and their importance but also to share your experiences and insights with others. Thank you in advance!
womeniwanttogrowoldwith.wordpress.com 
Great food for thought and beautifully written. Thank you!
We appreciate your feedback, Martha!
lovely. I have been recently making new friends and while reading your blog began thinking of my older friends whom I have not been cultivating lately. better hop to it!
I am committed to my friends, but sometimes they don’t know it! Oops!
Congratulations on a fantastic entry! We are so very proud of you!
I think this is a good reminder to nourish all of our relationships. They don’t just happen. Great blog.
You are certainly right about losing touch when you need it most. When things get rough at home, there’s even less time to go out anywhere with the friends you already have let alone make new ones. I was just unlucky enough to lose my 4 besties and husband in a 6-year period, all in their 50’s. But thank God there are some I have known as long as 40 years who are still in my life. That’s long distance though.
What tremendous loss you’ve endured. We’re so grateful you have enduring friendships. And we know that your intentions will allow you to find just the right girlfriends you need closeby as well. All our best!
Having gone through a profound loss of my husband several years ago, the most enduring realization from that time was that my women friends were a tremendously under-appreciated, under-valued treasure of all times. They were the wind beneath my wings and my underpinning during a difficult transition. Your initiative puts into words my experience and inspires me to reach out and make the effort to better maintain my connections with such precious people. And then the realization comes that as my “life moves on”, my small circle can be widened also to include new and lasting friendships in this journey. I am very grateful Diane that somehow I stayed on your email address book and now have the benefit of your new creative effort. Best to you.
So great to hear from you Karenlee. Thank you for your thoughtful comments. You will always be a woman I want to grow old with!