When you reach a certain age, you have to make room in your life for adulthood and whatever comes with it: a job, a marriage, a new home etc. When this happens, we’re sometimes forced to say goodbye to some friends. After all, we’re not tied to our friends through a contract or through blood, and it’s not the end of the world if we need to cut or ad some names from our contact lists.
Friendships are flexible, and their first attribute is that people choose one another in order to build such a relationship. Sadly, the modern life can get so busy that people forget to make new friends or keep in touch with old ones. That’s when friendships start to slowly fade away and the feeling of loneliness appears, and scientists have discovered that this feeling raises the risk of a premature death with 26%, and it’s even more harmful for your body than obesity or pollution.
Loneliness harms your health in so many ways, especially because the social safe net disappears. Lonely people see more threats in the world, and this is not good for their pulse and blood pressure.
The cure is simple: friendships. They help protecting our brains and bodies from stress, anxiety and depression. A recent study has proven that friendships bring even more positive effects with age. Older people that maintained good relationships with friends are much more healthy, physically and mentally, then the lonely ones.
How to make friends when you grow up
Sadly, it can be hard to maintain or make friends as an adult. Studies have shown that each one of us needs 4 to 5 close friends, those friends which will always be there for you when you need somebody to talk to. What brings people together are common passions. So you can find a potential friend in places where people of different ages and experiences gather because they have the same hobby, like dance classes, volunteering, or dog parks if you love animals.
After we meet a potential friend, there comes that part that freaks us all: inviting him/her to do something with us. That means that we have to leave our comfort zone and take the risk of being refused. But there’s also the chance that the person will accept, and that could be the beginning of a great friendship.