My New Years Resolution: Making new friends & renewing old friendships

A togetherfriends member has written a blog about her New Year Resolutions, planning to work on her friendships, old and new.  Here are her ideas for the New Year:

Reviewing friendships at the start of the year

I know it’s a cliche but I do find it useful to take stock at the end of one year and look forward to the next and plan a little. I like to look back over what has been good and not so good, and put in place some ideas and aims for the New Year. One area I always consider is relationships, family, friends, work colleagues etc. After many changes last year this is a year where I want to cement new friendships but also there are room for more and I want to be brave and seek them out.

Maintaining existing friendships

Do you like me, get that guilty feeling when writing Christmas cards and you find yourself writing “we must meet up this year”? I’ve decided to be honest about who I do want to meet up with and who I don’t, and for the shorter list of those I do, make sure there is a date in the diary. I don’t make friends easily and always enjoy meeting up with long-held friends, we’ve got so much history and it’s always worth the additional effort; whether that’s travel, planning in advance or enduring a partner I don’t like quite so much!

Building on acquaintances and hobbies

This year I made some new friends and also started to get to know some folk that I see regularly at some weekly clubs and groups. I’ve reminded myself that new friendships take time to settle and it is as much my responsibility to keep in regular contact and open up a bit more as I get comfortable. There are also lots of potential friends that I see every week at fitness classes and meetings, that if I step out of my comfort zone and linger to talk a bit more, suggest a coffee or an event around our common interest could become much more.

Open to new friendships & experiences

I went through a long period of being in a rut with friendships until some big changes forced me to be proactive and make some new ones. It wasn’t a hard as I thought, but I can feel myself getting comfortable again. I want to keep that momentum to keep on making new friends, trying new activities and expanding my horizons.

So this year I’m going to make myself make at least 2-3 more friends, by being braver with those who are already acquaintances, but also making myself attend some random events or meetings and introducing myself to those I sit next to. Instead of turning invitations down as I think I will be busy or tired I’m going to say yes.

I’m also going to make the most of the newer ways of making friends online, I’ll keep an eye on relevant meetup groups and I’m going to make the most of my togetherfriends.com membership. Togetherfriends connects women to women who are also actively looking for new friends and matches them on common interests and I’ve already made a couple of good new friends that way. I'm going to resolve to message some of my matches, meet up and be open to where that might go.

Happy New Year to you and join me in being brave and seeking our new friendships and experiences!