Is it too late to make new friends?

WishingICould

Well-known member
I'm nearly 26 and only have one girl i would call a proper friend. Do you think it's too late for me to go out there and meet more people/friends? Most people my age have good friends already.
 

Graeme1988

Hie yer hence from me heath!
I don't think it's too late. But then, am in the same situation or feel the same way when it comes tae makin' new friends. It's no easy when yer social anxious in most social situations, especially groups of people.
 

gustavofring

Well-known member
I'm 27, and I don't think it's too late, but I know that line of thinking too well.

I've been thinking things were too late since I was a child. "Too late to join a sports team, too late to learn this and that". So nothing got ever done. Mostly because of comparing to other people. We don't realise how young we still are until we are old.

I have a very small group of friends and I don't see them too often. But I will definately try and expand my social circles a little and seeing those friends that I have more. I'm trying to throw the "Too late" thinking out of the window and just live in this moment as much as possible. Also, try not to fit into some mold of what "people think" is the social norm when it comes to making friends. I find that is very limiting.

Heck, there are people of 40 and far above who are still vital, outgoing and curious and making new friends. It's not like the ability to make friends stops at some age, but I think a lot of it depends on a person's mindset. It's true that many people settle for a group of friends their whole life at a certain age (college age) but on the other hand a lot of those friendships also fade.
 
Last edited:

coyote

Well-known member
Heck, there are people of 40 and far above who are still vital, outgoing and curious and making new friends.

yep, some of us can even feed ourselves :thumbup:

seriously though, it's never too late to make new friends

in our highly mobile modern society, people will continually come and go out of your life - just as you will come and go out of theirs - as we move, change jobs, advance our education and careers, fall in love, marry, have children, etc.

each new change in your life will present a new opportunity for establishing new relationships
 

gustavofring

Well-known member
Lol I don't mean to say people in their 40ies are elderly, Coyote. Just to give a comparison with us people in their twenties who are thinking it's too late and stuck in fatalistic thinking while 40 + people are just as much in the prime of their lives as relatively younger people.
 

coyote

Well-known member
Lol I don't mean to say people in their 40ies are elderly, Coyote. Just to give a comparison with us people in their twenties who are thinking it's too late and stuck in fatalistic thinking while 40 + people are just as much in the prime of their lives as relatively younger people.

well good, because i wouldn't want to scratch up my new cane when i got off my mobility scooter to beat you with it :ironicsmile:
 

planemo

Well-known member
No it's never too late to make friends. you never know from where your next friend will come. often one makes a connection with someone just out the blue, but it proves to be a meaningful connection.

On a personal note i'm not sure if and when i'll make a real life friend. if i have to go back through my life, i think the friends i made just somehow gravitated to me, and i then realised this person is actually willing to give me a chance so i went along with it. i notice when i make a genuine attempt to be someones friend, then within no time they turn their back on me and kinda give me the cold shoulder. it happens without fail. :idontknow:
so for me i have to hope someone will try to be my friend. i think i would have had a lot more friends if the genuine attempts i made were successful.

i'm not sure how it is you made your friends in the past, but if you put yourself out there, you will make a connection for sure. :)
 
Last edited:

Plan9

Active member
My dad's in his 50's and he's still making new friends. You've got to wonder about genetics some times... But any way no, it's rarely to late for any thing (making friends especially!)... now to convince myself of that (in relation to myself).
 

Hellhound

Super Moderator
My mother is in her 60's and she found a group of nice ladies to hang out with. No, it's never too late for that.
 

selon

Well-known member
It's never too late to make new friends. The only reason why it's easier for kids to make friends is cause they're thrown together every day in school, they don't have much of a choice. In our age, we need to think about what kinda people we wanna have as friends (same interests? same hobbies? same background?) and then make a conscious effort to find someone.
On the other hand, there might be some people there already and you just don't see them. Sometimes opening our eyes and looking around us is more effective than trying to find someone completely new.
 
Nope, in fact I'd say age is a distinct advantage. I'm turning 28 next week and I only just started college last September and met a load of new people and some new friends. Age is definitely in the plus column on this one.
 
Nope, in fact I'd say age is a distinct advantage. I'm turning 28 next week and I only just started college last September and met a load of new people and some new friends. Age is definitely in the plus column on this one.

Starting college for the first time? I guess I assumed that you were going BACK to school, like for an advanced degree (or however they work it where you live). I guess if I had paid more attention to your journal thread :eek:h:

That is awesome, congrats! Gives me hope too, because I was stressing over the fact that I haven't completed college at age 22 and I'll be behind my peers if I finish it by, say, 26. Your situation makes me feel better :p

Sorry, hijacked OP's thread.

To answer the OP, I don't think it's ever too late to make friends, although admittedly tougher depending on circumstances and sometimes age. I think the more you get out of your house and around people, the more likely and naturally you will develop friendships. Good luck!
 

PGT

Well-known member
I have had one good male friend for over 20 years. I have people at work who I talk to most days but I would not class them as friends just work acquaintances. I have known my friend for so long I can't even remember how we became friends. I wouldn't know where to start to make a friendship like that again.
 
Starting college for the first time? I guess I assumed that you were going BACK to school, like for an advanced degree (or however they work it where you live). I guess if I had paid more attention to your journal thread :eek:h:

That is awesome, congrats! Gives me hope too, because I was stressing over the fact that I haven't completed college at age 22 and I'll be behind my peers if I finish it by, say, 26. Your situation makes me feel better :p
!


Haha nope, starting at the beginning :) I'll be 32 when I get get my degree. It's just a different way of doing things and it'll be the same for you B, well you'll have 6 years on me and you'll have a bit of life experience that your peers won't have. I'd actually say you've got the best of both worlds there.:)
 

WishingICould

Well-known member
I was thinking of maybe doing a college course or getting a new hobby but I don't know where to start.

Thank you Selon. :)
 
Oh you should totally go for it, :) I'm delighted with my decision. It's actually never to late to start anything, the experience just gets better, thats what I'm learning and I take way more from it now than I would have when I was 18. I've made friends of different ages 18-50s on my course :)
 
Top