Adult Friendships | Old Friends and New Friends

It's a subject that's been on my mind a lot recently. As a teenager the only friends you know are perhaps the ones you've known throughout your school life, or grew up next door to or the ones you met throughout growing up but when you get to adulthood, you're stuck between the life you had and the life that's unfolding in front of you. Your friends are there to stick by you on this journey but sometimes you can lost them along the way. That may be through no fault of yours or theirs, life just gets in the way sometimes. You can outgrow people, distance can affect you and sometimes people hang on to grudges for a little longer than necessary.

Friendships as an adult are, in theory a lot easier but as a young adult you're all in that mindset of needing to hang out every week, see each other every day which is still great and definitely recommended if doable but life has gotten busier, commitments have grown including jobs, relationships, families. Your friends are there to understand that you can go a week or two without catching up, just so that you can grab that coffee together and properly chat. As long as your loyalty runs both ways there's no reason you can't remain strongly bonded.

Failed friendships are ok, too. You should learn from them and cherish them for the memories that they gave you. People grow and change through life and you may realise you're actually not as close as you once used to be and hanging on to someone by a string is exhausting you more than it needs to. It's ok to move on and it's ok to make new friends.

That's the fun of it, making new friends as an adult. You have stories to tell each other, things to relate over and experiences to share and teach. It's a great life we all are living and we wouldn't be anywhere without the friends we have to guide us along the way. 

As a kid, I moved school a few times and was lucky enough to make new friends each time whilst still keeping my old friends, but it has helped my confidence with meeting new people and making friendships. I pride myself on my people skills, I love making new connections and speaking to new people. Being an adult it can be harder to maintain those friendships what with work, relationships and conflicting schedules but as adults, you both understand that life can be hard and at the end of the week or hell of a day, that coffee/wine catch up will be exactly what you need.

In the end, that's what a friend is truly there for, being a constant guide in your growth and being there for you when you're down, up or in between. They're there to laugh with you over your most stupid mistakes, cry with you over your even more stupid mistakes and happy cry with you over life's most golden memories. Concerts, festivals, weddings, parties, gatherings. They are all going to happen and it's your friends you will have to share those memories with. 

Cherish all of your current friends and make an effort with new people too, a friend might be just what they need in that moment in time.

Until next time...

G x