Making friends isn’t easy at any age, but it can feel especially difficult later in life since your time has generally been prioritised on your family or career. Friendship is an integral part of human existence, and friendship’s power is indisputable. The benefits of a solid social support group include improved self-esteem, anxiety relief and better general health. Studies have even claimed that it can act as a health-improving “vaccine.” Most studies also indicate that people over 45 generally feel lonely. Just as a strong support network can be good for you, a lack of a support network can negatively impact a person’s health. Loneliness has long been associated with mental decline. However, challenging is not the same as impossible, and we at Spice Social believe everyone should have a great network of friends to support them at all stages of life. That’s why we’ve prepared these top tips for making friends.
Take Up A Hobby
Have you always had an interest that you wanted to pursue or perhaps a skill you’re keen to learn? Perhaps some activities once brought you joy but which have since fallen by the wayside. When life gets busy, we often ignore our hobbies, but they can be a fantastic tool for meeting like-minded people! Getting back into the things you enjoy is one of the easiest ways to meet new people, and the immediate shared interest makes a great starting point to drum up conversation and form a bond. Making time for your interests is also vital for your own well-being in general, so spending more time on the things you love can make you healthier and happier and offer a great route to forming new friendships.
Join An Activity Group
Joining an activity group offers a fantastic opportunity to meet plenty of new faces. It also provides a range of different activities and experiences for you to try, so not only does it attract plenty of people to mingle with, you might even find a new hobby to enjoy! Remember that the members who show up for each activity can also vary based on people’s interests and availability, so showing up to different events is likely to provide different people to socialise with. We also believe that variety is the spice of life (no pun intended!), so simply trying new and exciting experiences is fun and fulfilling on its own! Sure, we might have a little bit of bias on this one, but activity groups are an undeniably fantastic way to combat loneliness and to enrich our lives and those of others.
If you are interested in joining an activity group, we would love for you to join us! At Spice Social, we cater to all personalities and offer many activities and hobbies for you to get to grips with. We know that people can sometimes feel anxious or embarrassed about attending alone, but rest assured that there’s no need to feel worried. Our membership includes plenty of single people as well as couples, and you’ll very quickly become acquainted with plenty of new people within your first event. We also ensure a host is always present, so there’s always a recognisable and friendly face to chat with if you’re feeling out of sorts. If you’re interested in joining us, please check out our membership page or contact our team for a chat. We would love to hear from you, and we’re always happy to answer any questions you might have!
Have An Open Mind
Life often presents us with opportunities to meet new people and form new friendships, but not always with the people we expect. We may often meet people whilst out and about in our daily lives but dismiss them based on appearance, age difference, or even some perceived flaw or discrepancy. Whether you’re walking the dog or watching your child on the swings at the park, if life presents you with an opportunity to strike up a conversation, remember to keep an open mind. Sure, we may gravitate towards people similar to us, but many great friendships can be found amongst people with different interests and backgrounds to our own. As the old idiom says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
