Do you have trouble making new friends or feel isolated after COVID or an illness? Getting out among people can be uncomfortable when we feel isolated. Maybe you moved or changed to churches or workplaces.
Here are 7 tips we can use for making friends.
- If you need something to do with your hands, grab a drink, or carry your purse.
- Join a local service club or church group that serves others. Serving others helps us get our minds off ourselves. By doing something together, we get to know them without talking much.
- Get involved in a sport or physical activity. I enjoy line dancing. You could walk, play tennis, pickleball, or softball, or join an aerobics class. These groups give us something to discuss during breaks and before and after the activity.
- Take a class on something that interests you. You’ll find others in the group interested in the same things.
- Say Yes. When asked to do lunch or an activity with someone, try it. People often don’t ask more than once, and you might find a friend.
- Smile. Smiling changes our attitude and is one of my favorite ways to meet people. Put on your Jesus smile and talk to people who speak with you. Smiles say I’m friendly and I’d like to chat with you.
- Say Hi to people. Practice eye contact and greet people in the store, coffee shop, sporting event, or a local festival. Learning to get out of my shell started with just saying Hi.
Bonus – Contact a friend you haven’t seen or talked to in a while. Send a note, email, text, or even call someone you and ask how they’ve been. Suggest getting together- coffee, ice cream, lunch, dinner. Food is a simple way to spend time together because we all eat sometimes.
