Tips for Making Friends?

Other than my wife, I had not had any real friends since when I was in College. At work, I had a lot of acquaintances, but not a real friend. I used to have a lot of fun with my work buddies drinking and smoking pot. After I quit drinking and smoking pot, people drifted away. I had to learn to handle that. I then took up snorkeling and spearfishing and formed a friendship with a guy at work that liked to do the same things. We have been friends for many years.
 
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No, that isn't a serious suggestion.
 
Get a dog. You'll have almost as many friends as your dog in no time. But You'll need to pick up after....
 
Golden Rule.... Go join a club which is in an activity that you enjoy. At least you'll be surrounded by like minded people...

Good advice and a great place to start.

You're already here on AK...... so start here. Host an AK get together. You immediately get to meet individuals in person with which you share a similar interest.
I've certainly made more than a couple friends by hosting a yearly get together. We all benefit from the real life interaction.
 
What about the people at work? I know that doesn't always make much sense, depending on your particular situation. I once worked at a place that had an entire group of people who were on my "wavelength," so to speak. Good people and easy to get along with. On the other hand, I once also worked at a place that had an entire collection of idiots. People I didn't want to talk to at work, let along hang out with after work. How they got all those idiots in once place is beyond me. Fortunately, the situation was such that I didn't really have to talk to any of them, except at meetings, and those only happened once in a while.
 
I am now 70 yrs old! All of my Life I had Friends since pre-school to now.Some came and some left for whatever reasons I don't know some passed on as well.Never had any problems with any of them yet they choose to not be my friend for reasons they never told me.Friends at work I never had as I was there to do my Job,get paid and nothing more.If there was something wrong with me I was never told about it.People had lives and were constantly moving on is what I was told even by my older siblings.What was/is wrong with me I don't know and never knew,alas that's life I guess or it is for me I suppose:)
 
Just be careful of the group/people that you end up. Make sure that they have pretty well the same value system that you live by. Don't adopt theirs just to fit in.

It's OK to be alone. Many can't handle this! Get to know that it's much better to be alone than lonely.

Q
 
I 've used this in other posts but seems fitting commensurate to Quad's #33 post:

I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.
~Robin Williams
 
Haha thanks, I'm actually listening to a podcast about Charles Manson right now.

Charismatic people really freak me out.

I'm being ostracized at work, because a boss hates me. It was going okay, but a dude transferred to my shift... a dude that can 'work' people. This dude can just naturally manipulate people without them even knowing it. He's working people against me, just so he can 'ball-swing'. It's bizarre.
 
Smile a lot when out and about. It's infectious! Second, get a dog. They are a great judge of character, and even if you don't find any friends for a while you will always have one with you all the time.
 
Haha thanks, I'm actually listening to a podcast about Charles Manson right now.

Everything that guy did?

Do the opposite.:biggrin:

I met a lot of people volunteering to help with projects - stuff like town "clean up day", agreeing to be on a Relay for Life team, habitat for humanity. It's easier to get conversation going when there's an activity of some kind.

And ask a lot of open ended questions to keep people talking. The more they talk about themselves, the more interesting they will think you are!
 
Get a dog.

get a dog.

Get a dog only if you have tons of time to spend with him/her. WAY too many people get dogs for their own selfish needs and the dog ends up neglected and alone, or worse.

Think hard about your life before getting a dog. Do you work outside the house? Do you like to go out in the evenings? Gym, restaurants, clubs, whatever?

Dogs are extremely social creatures and it's extremely hard on them to be left alone. In Nature they're not alone for a single moment of their lives.

Dogs sleep together, play together, hunt together, do everything together. To be alone in a State of Nature for a dog means almost certain death.
They need the Pack to bring down game. Hence they have an incredibly strong instinctual aversion to solitude.

I volunteer at a shelter and we have dogs coming in daily who have been mistreated & neglected, whose owners kept them in cages, and so on.

I love my dog more than anything in the world but she takes a TON of time every single day to keep happy and healthy. It's worth it to me.
 
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