How to Navigate Friendships After You Turn 50

Something I've discover in the last few years is that my friend group is shrinking. Yet, I’ve learned not to feel guilty about dwindling friendships as I age.

I first encountered this trend right after retirement and a move out of the area where we had ministered for over 40 years.

Next came months of caring for a daughter with mold disease. Then Covid arrived on the scene, and you probably know how THAT went!

Each of these happenings meant an adjustment in my friendships, but I also realized that my friend’s circle would be smaller and more varied even if those events hadn’t occurred.

Fewer girlfriends are a natural part of winding down a busy life. This diminishing allows me the time I now need to embrace the people I choose with the wisdom and limited energy that aging brings.

Growing older means you’ve invested in many friendships and, hopefully, learned from them all. By now, you’ve got a toolbox full of relationship tools that you know work and the insight to know what doesn’t work!

Some friends have moved to distant places, and perhaps you’ve done the same. You can’t hug, talk, and laugh face-to-face as you once did, but social media helps fill those gaps a little.

Other friendships disappear as life takes you in different directions with different interests.

Yet, when you meet an old companion you haven’t seen in a long while, you find the conversation rooted in the past, bringing pleasant memories to your day.

Old friends are treasures, and because of their depth, you don’t have to stay connected as you once did to remain friends.

New friends are full of discoveries. They bring fresh adventures and interesting perspectives swirled in with their lifetime of stories.

These relationships are rooted in the present and, if nurtured, bring richness to your aging journey.

And if you don’t feel like a new friend adventure is where your energy needs to go with an individual, you are free to back away from that woman and invest your time elsewhere… like a nap, hobby, another girlfriend, family, or a good book.

Aging Means Giving Yourself Permission to...

The Foundation of Your Friendships

As you move in and out of relationships, remember that it is God’s love within your heart that binds a friendship together.

It doesn’t matter if your friend believes the same as you or has even experienced that love.

What matters is that you have.

So, choose to filter your self-talk, actions, and words through the love of God found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Learning to age gracefully means saying goodbye to many old friendships, embracing a few new ones, and, most of all, learning to apply God's love in practical and sustaining ways to our relationships.

You’ve got this, girl.

Now … call a girlfriend and set up a coffee date.

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