Posted on November 14, 2018By AgeBrilliantlyTeamEditor Pick 2, Relationships

Friends form an important part of creating a healthy and happy lifestyle. However, not all friendships are as effortless as they seem. As age progresses, you may find it hard to make friends let alone maintain one. When you’re a senior, the world might seem like its turning against you and having a friend close by can mean a great deal to you.

We’re here to help you. Who says you can’t have friends? We’ll help you kick-start your first step towards finding a reliable friend. Below is a list of steps that you can follow.

Look Local

People are everywhere. Just look around you. All that you lack is a bit of confidence. So mutter up that courage and let your neighbor know that you wish you have lunch with him/her. The place here is really irrelevant. But pick a good spot and sit for chatter. Don’t talk about serious issues. Tell them how you feel about yourself. If you panic about talking them out of liking you, you can just say, “hey, how are you?." and wait for their response.

Join an Exercise Class

It doesn’t hurt to stretch your back once in a while. At least, do it for the sake of seeking a reliable friend. Do it for the gain of it. Peel your eyes and look around. If you find someone who’s worth your time and effort, make an approach. Don’t come off too strong, you don’t want to scare them with your wrinkled face and puckered lips.

Join Social Group/ Organization
Another great way to meet new people, is through social organizations such as The Transition Network (TTN), which is a social organization for women over fifty. Engage yourself in peer group programs that regularly organize small to discuss topics such as films, theatres, art, books, and excursions. Once you get really good at communicating with others around you, you can launch your own peer group and send out invitations. Widowers and widows are more likely to join such groups to discuss issues that developed during the years of widowhood.

Go Online
If you’re too timid to strike up a conversation in the real world, you might as well go online. The internet is a great place to check out strangers from all around the world. Leave an open mind and put your interests on sites that outsource strangers from various locations. If the stranger lives close by, you could always meet up for a quick tea or coffee. Another way is to set up email groups and send out online invitations to distant friends to join your group. Creating a personal hub can help you rekindle old friendships.

Keeping it alive
Meeting new people is easy but keeping them for long requires a certain degree of effort from your side. While the opportunity to meet new people might present itself over several occasions, turning a stranger into an acquaintance requires some form of action. When you see a potential partner or soul mate, don’t hesitate to go and strike a talk. Researchers studied pairs of acquaintances in and learned when someone likes you; you are more probable to like them back. This reciprocal fondness tends to have a positive effect on achieving the goal of turning a friend into an acquaintance.
While you take your time to come up with a plan to meet your new best friend, you might as well check out these essential links. They can help you calculate your retirement savings and set up a financial strategy. Here are the links to all the tools. Click on each of them to view them separately.

Senior Care Calculator

Retirement Calculator

Senior Health Risk Calculator

Personal Finance Calculator

Retirement Savings Calculator

Social Security Optimiser

Sites to meet new friends online:

Meetup

Girlfriend Social

Friend Match

Stitch
Did you find these tips helpful? Did we miss something? If yes, drop in your valuable comments in the comment section or visit our forum to know more.

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