Friends are like family but as you get older you have to put in even more time to keep those friendships alive.
As you get older the relationships with your friends get stronger. However as you get older your life just gets busier and you have less time to devote to those friendships. Work keeps you busy at all times, working out, volunteering, me-time, etc all adds up and you realize you don’t have enough time to spend with those that you love. What I’ve realized is that I need to constantly put effort into the friendships that I see long-lasting. Friends that understand that life gets in the way are the ones that you hold on to. I wrote about this recently when it is time to move on from a friend but I want to share what you should be doing to maintain those friendships that you want to keep.
Facetime / regular scheduled phone calls. I put up this poll on Instagram (if you don’t follow me I have weekly Tuesday polls) where I asked people if they prefer texting or calling and 80% said texting. I have to admit, I do prefer texting because it is so much easier with day to day conversations however I love to have hour long calls with my friends especially the ones that don’t live in NYC. Calling allows us to not only hear each others voices but it makes us feel like we are with them and having a normal conversation.
Plan a trip. Nothing is better than planning a trip with your favorite girls! This past weekend I went out to the Hamptons with Dana and Allie and it honestly was the best weekend I’ve had in a LONG time. We caught up on life but just loved each others company. We all get along so well and when we do new experiences together or even just chill by the pool together I know our friendship gets stronger and we have these memories to cherish together!
Brunch/Coffee/Dinner. Meals are such an easy way to connect with a friend. What you need to do is hold each other accountable and plan a reservation/date ahead of time so everyone has it on their calendar and knows to work around that. Don’t try to think you can easily reschedule this because even though you can you tend to push it out and eventually it starts to feel like a chore to meet up with a friend for a casual meal.
Watch a show together. Fun fact about me is that I love the Bachelor and I think what I love the most about it is that in college I used to watch it with my friends and now that we are out of college we still text each other every single Monday during the episode. It is like we never left college and are watching it together!
Go for a walk. Walking is a great thing to do on a Sunday afternoon/night with a friend who you haven’t seen in a while. You can get your steps in while catching up with someone and it is all free!
What do you do to keep your friendships alive?
Thanks for reading Elle’s Edit. If you have any topics that you would like for me to discuss, feel free to email me at elizabeth.lane.dooley@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! xo
