Midlife Euphoria Day 7

Midlife Euphoria Day 7

Friendship is very valuable all through life but during midlife and subsequent years. Meaningful connections, can reduce the effects of stress, and promote physical and mental health. 

Before midlife one is busy with the demands of a job, family, travel and social obligations related to work .These perks and contacts as we may call them are related to one’s position and will switch priorities once you forsake the chair. One should not look upon them as permanent and display withdrawal symptoms once they cease to exist. I don’t say that all the associations you make will be phony but you should have the perception to go for the genuine ones.

Once you decide on the sincere ones nourish and nurture their friendship and spend time-sharing with them, happenings in your life. Find time for them from your busy schedule as they are important.

How to find people you want as friends?

First and foremost they are people who put a smile on your face and make you feel good.

They have a positive attitude in life and a zest for living.

They also enjoy certain passions and activities that you love. It can be an enthusiasm for sports, spirituality, books, playing cards, cooking, traveling or any other interest.

Children are unpretentious hence associations made during school and college years are very strong and without the complication of status and position. I call them pure friendships. I have connected to a number of friends from school and college recently. The excitement and fervor with which we met was unbelievable. What they did or did not do in the last 30 years when we were out of touch did not matter. We connected as teenagers and picked up from there. They are friends full stop; we do not judge them for their accomplishments and skills. You’ll be surprised how comfortable and happy you feel in their company.

My husband has also got together with a whole lot of school buddies (thanks to the electronic media) after more than three decades. It is fantastic to see these grey haired guys in their fifties and sixties behaving like youngsters. It is amazing how they recount the same adolescent frolics with such joy and hilarity every time at every meeting. They are ticked pink thinking of the same antics repeating them verbatim with one of them adding more spice to it every time. Then they all roar with laughter As a result of these rendezvous’ the wives also meet up and strangely enough we all have connected well with each other. Mostly because it is such a delight to see these so called stiff upper lip guys, off their guard and making complete asses of themselves. I have noticed after every gathering my husband seems more rejuvenated and refreshed.

The same goes for relatives. You meet them during formal family gatherings like weddings, funerals etc. But out of all these some become “friends” and you like to meet them more often. The equation with them changes and they are friends more than relatives because you don’t have to tolerate them but enjoy their company.

My advice to all is that don’t stop yourself from picking up the phone or the directory and connect to a friend/relative who you would like to be part of your life. You will discover that he will be equally eager to renew the relationship.