How To Make New Friends As An Adult

How To Make New Friends As An Adult

As children, we were constantly finding ourselves in situations where we’d meet new peers, without making any effort at all. We'd make friends at school, on the bus, at birthday parties and even the local swimming pool; anywhere there were other kids, there would be opportunities to make a new best friend.

But as we get older, making friends becomes harder. Friendship circles become tighter, and people start devoting more time to their families, themselves, and their career. As a result, most of us are not as outgoing or active in the pursuit to meet new people. So if you're an adult who wants to make new friends and expand your personal network, where do you start?

 

Places to make new friends as an adult

The first thing to remember if you’re looking for friends is that you're not alone. Many people feel socially isolated as adults due to a whole range of circumstances, such as family responsibilities, losing a partner, divorce, moving to a new city or their hours of work. So as adults, how can we connect?

You don't need to go to parties every weekend in order to meet new people (unless you want to of course!), but you might need to move out of your comfort zone to find them. Some of the places you can find new people include:

 

Work

Does your office hold after-work drinks on a Friday afternoon, hold a lunchtime hobby group or sporting team you can join? If you work at a large organisation, your new best friend might just be working in the office down the corridor!

 

Meetup groups

Meetup is a wonderful tool for finding people who you share similar interests with. There's pretty much a ‘group’ for every hobby or theme you can think of, such as cooking, art, gardening, philosophy..or you can always start up your own.

 

Volunteering

Not only will volunteering expose you to new people, it will make you feel great about yourself in the process ― and help boost your confidence so that you can be more outgoing in other areas of life too.

 

Book clubs or writers groups

If you're a booklover or budding wordsmith, there are hundreds of book clubs and writers groups around the country you can join to meet like minded literary buffs. Get in touch with the NSW Writers Centre to find out where there is a group near you.

 

Sport teams or games organisations

You don't need to be an athlete or even particularly fit to join a sports team; many are focused more on casual games rather than competition. If you prefer something slower-paced, consider joining a club where you can enjoy a friendly match of your favourite game (whether it be pool, chess or even video games).

 

Night school and short courses

Your local Tafe or community centre will offer a range of adult education classes you can sign up for without any prerequisites. So if there's something you've always wanted to learn more about ― like photography or painting or history ― this is the place to do it, and meet new people with plenty in common in the process.

 

Online groups

A lot of people can't get out and socialise due to their work or lifestyle ― but it doesn't mean they don't want to. Online communities and forums are a great option for those who don't have the chance to go out and socialise, or who tend to feel shy around new people. The best part is that technology such as instant messaging, video calling and online group calls mean it’s easier than ever to connect with a friend ― even from the other side of the world.

 

Finding friendship after loss

If you've recently suffered the loss of a partner or close friend, you'll know how lonely it can be. Especially if that person was the one you would normally confide in and draw support from when times were rough. During the grieving process, it's normal to feel closed off from others ― even when those around you are offering their support.

This period can put strain on your existing friendships. Some friends may interpret your downtime the wrong way and feel ignored, rejected or cut off from your life. They might even respond angrily about it. Others react by suddenly disappearing; unable to cope with the emotional intensity of the situation, or simply because they don't know what to say. Either way it can really hurt.

If you have friends who have responded in this way, remember that their heart is in the right place ― they simply don't have the tools or the experience to understand where you're at. Rather than focus on this, use it as an opportunity to surround yourself with new people and new ideas that inspire and excite you. A change of environment can be helpful when you’re struggling to cope with grief, and will remind you that there’s life beyond this unhappy time.

 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed following the passing of a loved one, remember that you're not alone. Our ladies at Lady Anne Funerals understand exactly how difficult this time can be and have created an online community. Join us on Facebook by clicking the button below. 


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Our compassionate all-female team are dedicated to supporting families in their times of need. We arrange beautiful personalised funeral services in the Ryde area.

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Lady Anne Funerals is here to support and assist your family through what can be a difficult time, with a ladies touch. 

We are available to discuss a range of services to support your family, including: 

  • Personalised memorial services
  • Cremation and burial services
  • Religious services catering to all faith's
  • No service, no attendance 

Please get in touch - night or day - via the form or you can call us on the number below.

Phone: 1300 74 00 74

206 Victoria Road, Gladesville 2111

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Some of the families we've helped

My family and friends were very happy with every aspect of the preparation and celebration of the end of my wife. When I knew the end was near I spoke to Yvonne who explained to me what would happen and this was done with delicacy and tact. When the end came Yvonne came to our house and explained every aspect of what would happen. We explained what we wanted for Margaret's farewell and nothing was too much trouble for Yvonne to explain or discuss. On the day of the funeral everything went like clockwork and all my relatives and friends told me how impressed they were. So thank you to Yvonne for being celebrant and MC at the farewell and thank you to all the Lady Anne team. If I were asked to score the service my family received  it would be ten out of ten.
Dick Hodge
I would like to thank you and the whole team at Lady Anne Funerals for making mums funeral the perfect goodbye. The funeral was everything and so much more than mum wanted. Nothing seemed to be too hard and that made my time far simpler than i had expected. 
The whole day was perfect and we noticed with love all the special touches from the bookmarks to the candle to the display screen with Iris's. Thank you so much. Your team felt like part of the family rather than people doing a job.
That i believe is what sets Lady Anne apart.
I cant thank you enough.
Pete

I want to send a heartfelt 'thank you’ to you both, and your team, for your compassion and your assistance in taking meticulous care of Dad and arranging such a beautiful end of life service for him. Within a matter of only a few days, which included a weekend, you were able to organise the perfect service tailored to our requests.

Not only did you organise the attendance of the RSL representative, you also went to considerable trouble to download the music and videos we had chosen, in a format that could be utilised in the service.We greatly appreciated your guidance too with organising the order of service and arranging a printed copy of the tributes for one of our friends who was deaf.

Thank you Yvonne for doing a magnificent job as the celebrant. We greatly appreciated you reading our tributes to Maurie on the family’s behalf. Thank you too for reading the poem, 'The Dash’ so beautifully.

It was comforting for our family and friends to come together in a more intimate setting, which your chapel provides. The light refreshments, which followed the service, were ideal, allowing the family to stay on and share their memories.

Dad quite often had high expectations of the way things should be done, bless him, so I was particularly mindful of doing him proud with this last expression of our love for him and a tribute to his long and meaningful life. We achieved this, with your help, and I know he would have been deeply touched and honoured. Thank you for you for all you did.

Annie

"I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and your amazing team. I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better. Everything was perfect. And your ladies were beautiful. Your Yvonne is amazing. She is patient, compassionate, caring and delivers perfection in all the elements of the proceedings. She has been an absolute Gem.

Once again thank you so very much. I would highly recommend anyone to use your company if they want a perfect funeral service. 5 star service. 5 star outcome.

There were multiple compliments on the service, on your ladies and on the care from the attendees. I’m more than happy for you to post this on any media platform as a compliment and tribute to your company.

Thank you."

Anne Leslie
“I just wanted to send you our sincerest thanks for everything you and your incredible team did for us in making the most perfect day, celebration and farewell of our beautiful Harper.

I have given a lot of thought to your business and the industry and I think it is perhaps the most important business for families to get it right when it comes to planning a funeral which may be sudden or may be a long time in the making. Either way, when one is faced with the unfortunate situation of needing to arrange a funeral, only then do you realise the importance of getting it right.

We experienced first hand the polar opposites the industry offers. It is not just about the cars, the booklets, the music and all the things that make up the day - its about the service, the care and most importantly it’s about the people.

From our very first conversation we could sense your genuine care to our situation and your attention to detail was obvious - this was very different to the previous conversations we had with others we had been referred to. Those other companies wanted to commence meetings with the paperwork side of things upfront which is a very confronting thing to do just days after losing your loved one - and when one of the others that I am referencing couldn’t even refernece our daughters name as our meeting started - we were horrified of how poor the service of care could be.

This is where you and your team shine. After feeling very lost in our search to secure the perfect funeral director to create the perfect day, my wife all of a sudden recalled you standing out the front of your office each morning watering the surrounding gardens to ensure a beautiful front of house. Well, I can assure you, it is not just the front of house that is beautiful - its the entire package that is beautiful.

Your manner, your direction and your expertise is evident from the get go. Nothing is too hard for you or your amazing team. The personal care made us feel like we were the only funeral you were working with at the time, and that’s exactly how it should be.

The finer detail, such as driving past our house so our daughter could go past our house one last time, then leaving the most beautiful flowers on our doorstep, to bumping into us at the Church because you were just doing your own research to make sure the day was seamless. This combined with your recommendations from every aspect as everything was very foreign to us, you were able to guide us to achieve the most beautiful farewell.

The day itself was simply perfect. Not once did we have a concern. The car was shining, your team dressed beautifully, cold water provided for us, directions for our guests, directions for us. Everyone commented on how amazing the day was and how incredibly your team were. Seamless is the only word I can use. It doesn’t stop here.

Your personal care and guidance then allowed us a more intimate farewell the following day (we are so grateful for for this recommendation and possibly would have missed this special day if you had suggested it was the best idea). Again, you and your team made us feel like you had nowhere else to be, and no one else to help. Just us. The setting was beautiful, the celebrant (that you arrange and recommend) is a delightful, your team make this day even more special than the last.

This is something we never want to go through again but there will be so many others, that like us, have no idea where to start to look for the right funeral director for their own special day. All I can say is that I hope that they appoint Lady Anne Funerals. We learnt a lot quickly and it is again a business many do not ever consider needing but without question one of the most important businesses to select the right person and the right team.

I welcome any of your future potential clients to contact me if they wish to discuss our experience with the amazing Lady Anne team. We thank you for giving our beautiful baby the most incredible farewell that was exactly how we imagined it, you just made it happen.”

Lee Dowdall

“We wish to thank you for having helped us put together a beautiful farewell for our mother, one which she would have been delighted with.

It was a difficult day and it would have been worse without your synchronised, seamless and consistent presence as well as attention to detail.

We value your candour as the people you are and the very sensitive manner in which you conducted the service.

Thanking you from the bottom of our hearts,

The Pastore Family
Karen has supported my Mum and me through the most difficult week of our lives as we not only planned a funeral, but interred my Dad to his new home. I will be forever grateful to Karen for her ongoing support, guidance, kindness, empathy and friendship over the last week. Karen has now become part of our extended circle of close family friends.
Daughter of the late Sveta Dordevich
Lady Anne Funerals has the compassion, understanding and empathy that many of the larger funeral homes do not possess. My aunts funeral was dignified and classy everything she deserved. I would highly recommend Lady Anne (and have) as they go above and beyond.
Joanne Marks
I am overwhelmed with the feedback on how beautiful it all was from all who attended. You and the other ladies were wonderful, looked so elegant, and made the day so very special for all who loved Paul.
Barbara Sommerville Enright
Karen and her staff treated us with the utmost respect we could not have been in better hands during this difficult time. My mum had organised her funeral with a prepaid funeral plan which she had purchased from Karen almost ten years ago this also made this upsetting time much easier to deal with and she got all the things that she wished for.
Malcolm Ellis
On behalf of my family, I would like to thank Lady Anne Funerals for a beautiful service yesterday for my aunt Dot. All who attended commented on how lovely the service was & the professionalism of all the staff. Thanks again very much for helping making a sad day one of celebration of Dot’s life.
Judith Neville

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