A Life Without Friends is No Life

I'm the kind of person that makes friends easily. After all, what is life without friends? 

All too often, I see older people, especially married ones, who do not really have friends. They don't have people they can go out and do things with who are not their spouses, and that's a bad idea.

When you're married, you are a unit, but within that unit are two separate individuals with different interests. You didn't quit becoming who you are just because you got married. Besides, what happens when something happens to one person in the married unit? I'll tell you: the other person becomes isolated and alone. So, so lonely.

While I haven't been legally married in four years, I always maintained my friendships through my marriage. Now that I'm single, I still prioritize time with friends as much as I do with other important people in my life. I also prioritize time for just myself. It's a healthy balance that impacts me emotionally and is a net benefit.

I couldn't imagine a life without friends in it. Who are you supposed to confide in, whose shoulder can you cry on, who can you laugh heartily with, and who knows you more than anyone else? That's right, your friends.

You might be single your whole life, or your marriage will end one day in divorce, death, or illness. You might not have children, or your children will grow up, have kids, and a life of their own. The same with any siblings you might have. Your parents will pass on.

If you don't have friends....the loneliness will consume you.

I'll never forget watching an episode of On the Road with Steve Hartman. In it, Steve met an elderly gentleman who, having lost his wife six months prior, was depressed, lonely, and ready to die. Enter a chance encounter in the grocery store with a little girl around four years old who felt the urge to hug him. This started a beautiful friendship where the little girl (and her family) would visit every week, they would bring him over for holidays, and he went to all her school events. He told Steve that after his wife died he had no purpose, but the little girl had given him that again. That elderly gentleman was a changed, and happy, man. Link if you'd like to watch the story. Be warned, you'll get choked up.

Keep your friends, no matter how old you get, and keep them close.