This document provides tips for maintaining old friendships and making new friends in mid-life. It suggests marking your schedule to stay in touch with old friends, taking vacations together, collaborating on projects, and reviving former ties. For new friendships, it recommends exploring common interests, using social media, volunteering, and branching out to different age groups. Overall, it emphasizes the importance of sharing personal information, preparing for rejection, focusing on quality over quantity, and exchanging support to build strong friendships.

1. A Woman's Guide to
Mid-Life Friendships
A Woman's Guide to Mid-Life Friendships
As you approach your forties and fifties, you may find that your friendships have
dwindled away. It's a big change from the days when you were attending school or
raising young children. Then, you were surrounded by other students and parents
eager to get together for study groups and birthday parties.
Now, you may feel like you're on your own, especially if you're transitioning through
a divorce or packing your kids off to college. Try these tips for staying in touch with
old friends and making new ones.
Tips for Old Friendships
1. Mark your schedule. Meeting up with friends is just as important as following up
with business clients. Pull out your calendar to stay on track.
2. Take a vacation.Video calls and texting bridge long distances, but can't match
sitting around the table together after dinner. Use your personal and business
travel to drop in on each other occasionally.
3. Collaborate on a project.Pursue the same activities even while you're apart.
You'll have plenty to talk about if you're both taking gourmet cooking classes or
training for a charity run.
4. Accept change.At the same time, distinguish between relationships worth
sustaining and those that have run their course. You and your old college
roommate may no longer have much to talk about even if you used to gab all
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5. Revive former ties. On the other hand, maybe you still wonder about a former
coworker you haven't seen in years. Take the initiative to be the first to reach
out.
Tips for New Friendships
1. Explore common interests. Look for others like you. Visit the places where
you're likely to find other vegetarians or bluegrass music lovers. Sign up for a
ceramics workshop or audition for a part in a community theatre production.
2. Use social media.Adults of all ages congregate on Meetup or LinkedIn. Enjoy the
online discussions and invite someone out for coffee if you want to get to know
them better.
3. Volunteer in your community.Working for causes you believe in provides
gratification while you extend your network. Call a natural history museum to
see if they're accepting new docents. Organize a fundraising dinner for an
animal shelter.
4. Branch out.There are advantages to socializing with men and women of
different ages. Chat with someone older or younger when you're eating lunch in
the park.
5. Be patient.It takes time to forge a connection. Stay cheerful and busy so others
can see your good qualities without feeling pressured.
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3. Tips for Any Friendship
1. Reveal yourself.As toddlers or seniors, friendships develop when we allow
others to know us. Share more personal information as you become
comfortable with each other.
2. Prepare for rejection.There may be all kinds of reasons why a woman in your
yoga class resists hanging out afterwards. Give yourself credit for trying and
move on to another prospect.
3. Focus on quality.Having a few close friends beats having hundreds of followers
on Facebook. Focus on meaningful interactions instead of arbitrary definitions of
popularity. In later life, you may find yourself happier enjoying more solitude
while still treasuring those occasions when you gather with loved ones.
4. Exchange support.Giving and taking may be the most important sign of a
quality friendship. Move into your golden years with a circle of friends who
serve as advisors, sounding boards, and cheerleaders.
At midlife, you still have plenty of fascinating years ahead, so find buddies to share
them with. With skillful cultivation, many friendships can last a lifetime. Remember,
you're never too old to find new pals!
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