It all went so easy back when we were children. Meeting friends came entirely naturally to many of us at that age. As a student you were automatically brought into contact with people with the same interests as you. Some friendships lasted a year, some a lifetime. And then comes the time to spread your wings. You start working and move to a new city, or maybe your friends are the ones that move away. You find yourself somewhere alone and suddenly realize that expanding your social circle does not come naturally anymore. It takes time and effort to find new, meaningful connections.
Where do you begin?
Where do you even begin? You might be lucky and meet some like-minded people at work that you can hang out with every now and then. That is great! But not the case for everyone. Maybe you have joined a club, started taking weekly cooking lessons or signed up for a language course. These are effective ways to meet a particular group of new people regularly. Chances are that a fellow member shares your interests, and you could start thinking of ways to build up a friendship.
A question that often comes up in that situation is: is this person even interested in spending time with me? Many people already have a social circle and are not really looking for even more people to add to their already rather full calendar. You might even end up adapting your behavior in order for this new contact to be more likely to grab a coffee with you some time. But how could this contact ever result in a meaningful friendship if it started off with you pretending to be someone else?
Dare to be you!
It is a trap that is easy to fall into. You want new social contacts, so you adapt your personality to what you think this potential new contact might like. You hide your true interests and opinions because what if they clash? But think about it. How real can the connection be? And aren’t you fooling two people here? Choose for yourself by being yourself. Other people will appreciate that much more. And maybe this new social contact does not match so well with you – but is it a bad thing? Not at all.
This is where LifeBonder steps in. LifeBonder will help you find true friends based on your interests, your lifestyle and activities. Dare to be you! Because that is the only way friendships will last a lifetime.
Eline Dimmendaal
Positive linguist and writer. I am passionate about language and communication and enjoy writing about human interactions.
