Nothing ever stays the same. As time passes, situations change, even with the ones where you wish they never would. Friends move away, graduate, get married. Life is ever changing, which means that friendships are ever changing. At some point in your life, you might find your friends needing to move away and leave you behind. This pushes you towards searching for new friends.
Searching for new friends can feel stressful. Not just because meeting new people can be intimidating but because you have your already formed friendships in the back of your mind. You begin to question what will happen to your old friendships once you start branching out to meet more people. It’s easy to think these relationships will dwindle away. However, meeting new people and making new friendships strengthens your old relationships.
These are the three reasons why you won’t lose your existing friends but rather grow closer to them during this season of life.
1. Time spent together will be more purposeful.
When you see your friends every day, it’s easy to get in the habit of getting distracted in your time together. Often, tomorrow feels like a given. You’ll ask them that serious question tomorrow. You’ll really ask how they’re doing tomorrow. You’ll open up to them tomorrow.
However, when this luxury of time is taken away, there is an opportunity to grow closer to that person. Whether it’s over Skype, text, or a twenty-minute coffee date, these moments are more cherished than before. The conversation covers the important, making sure you talk about everything you need to. By doing so, you are growing closer to this friend in the deep conversations and value you hold over the meeting.
2. You will find more appreciation for this person.
Time spent with new friends can make you think about your old friendships in a fonder light. Making new friends turns the moments spent with old friends into memories, memories you look back on and share. They are relived time and time again until thinking about them makes you feel warm inside.
Soon old arguments or petty annoyances within old friendships become less significant. By making new friends, you will begin to realize that what is important is all the great times spent together and all the great qualities of your friend. This will bring the two of you closer because instead of dwelling on negatives, the positive memories will surround your friendship.
3. You’ll begin to communicate more.
When you don’t have as much time to spend with old friends, it will surprisingly increase how often you communicate with them. When you only get to see them once a week or maybe once a month, you’ll begin to fill that time away from each other with text messages, emails, and phone calls.
You’ll be branching out to meet new people but, in the process, you will still be connected with old friends. There would be more effort that is put into the relationship to stay connected. By communicating more, you’ll know more about what’s going on in their lives and thus become more connected.
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It’s not easy to branch out whether its intentional or forced by the changing situations. Either way, old friendships will not disappear because you form new ones. They’ll grow even stronger than before.
Reflect & Refresh 