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The joys of friendship

Created date

August 23rd, 2011

There are a lot of older people who are lonely. Their families may not live close by. Many of their friends may have moved or passed away. If their spouse has died, they feel awkward going out with the couples they used to socialize with. They may have problems getting around, particularly if they no longer drive. If they have a health problem like failing eyesight, they become afraid to stray far from home. While all these excuses have merit, to my way of thinking they re not impossible to overcome. You can find ways of reaching out to old friends and making new ones. But you have to make the effort.

Friendship from a scientific point of view

The laws of physics have their counterparts in psychology. The Law of Inertia says that a body at rest is harder to move than one already in motion. If you rarely if ever see friends, then it s only going to be harder and harder to have friends. But once you make being with friends a priority, you ll see that enjoying all the wonderful aspects of friendship will become easier and easier. One friend new or old will lead to connections to other friends. So the more in need of friends you are, according to the laws of physics, the more energy you have to invest into the process of connecting with friends. You have to be the one to call old friends. You have to be the good neighbor in order to make new friends. You have to put together dinner dates and trips, offer your home as the basis of a book club, be the one to buy the board games and invite people over to play. The rewards you ll reap from putting in this extra effort will be well worth it. You see, the friends you ll make will keep the main enemy loneliness far from your door.