BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Self Development Do you have many close friends?

Have you retained friendships with your girlfriends over the years? Do you have many close friends?

I know some women that have the same girlfriends since grade school. I've moved in the last few years so I'm busy making new friends and trying to stay close to my "old" friends.

Here's the feature article for this week: Light of the Moon - Luanne Rice - A Review

The Self Development Shop is now open for business. Please stop by and look around - there are two pages filled with empowering self-development books. Here's the link: The Self Development Shop

For our Self Development newsletter subscribers, here is the answer to our pearl of wisdom quiz - b. support

If you'd like to learn about the newest articles on Self Development site and participate in our weekly quiz - please sign up for the free weekly newsletter. Here's the link: FREE Weekly Self Development Newsletter

Thank for for reading and participating in our forum!

~Sharon

I moved away from my childhood home after college but have stayed close to my best friend from High School. We are able to visit every few years and correspond regularly.
I have always managed to have a few really close friends, although as the years passed some moved away and the bond loosened, others drifted away as life and interests separated us, and I have finally reached the age when some have died.
Happily though, the occasional new acquaintence clicks and becomes a close friend, and I cherish them more and more. Somehow they keep getting younger although I am definitely not!

Most of my really close friends have moved away from my hometown. I still have them and keep in contact with them but I don't have girlfriends that I can go out and do things with very often.

I am at home a lot since my diabetes has been a bit out of control, but when I am able to get out and about I make friends easily, it's just hard to keep that going.

I would love to have just one really really best friend. I think I could keep up with one lol...

Something to look forward to... finding that special friend!!

I have a group of eight girlfriends - three of whom I went to preschool with, three more I met in kindergarten and one who we met in high school. We are all still friends. Several of our parents are still friends as well. Two of us live out of the state and the others still live in our home town or the neighboring town.

In the state where I live now and in the places I've lived along the way, I've always made a few close friends.... but there is nothing like a historical friend.

I have many acquaintances, but only a few real friends. I have one person that I have known for 14 years that would probably be like a best friend.

Hello, I am new to BellaOnline. I can see that there are interesting discussions to be found here. Friendship is an interesting topic to me. Personally, I have four very good friends, three of whom I've known since childhood. I consider these women my sisters. There are other people I enjoy spending time with, but they do not know my secrets yet. In my experience it seems that some people do not have a clear definition of what friendship is. The line between friend and acquaintance becomes blurred, and peoples' lives become overwhelmed by a social calendar that is too full. I've known several people who have this issue. In conversations, I've asked them to define friendship and then apply those characteristics to the people in their life. After this exercise, the "friends" shake out into three groups. The first group holds the people they are closest to; best friends and some family members. The second group holds the people that have the potential to become good friends. The third group holds acquaintances (people who do not have the good friend characteristics), and some people that cause emotional pain. Defining these three groups is actually a time management strategy too. The majority of a person's time should not be spent with people in the third group. Developing meaningful relationships is an important part of life. It is necessary to nurture ties, and spend your valuable time, with the people you care most about. A wise woman once told me, "If you have had one friend in your life, you are blessed." Best, Brandy Herron

I have come to find out that, history does not mean quality. What I mean by this, is that, knowing someone for a long time does not make them a quality friend. For that reason I have come to realize that I have one true friend. He has been there through thick and thin, through ups and downs. This friend has had my back through a lot of hurtful situations. He has not caused me pain.

I have 3 close friends.2 of them I went to college with.And the other I grew up with.I get to spend more time with only 1,as she lives here in Baton Rouge.The other 2,live an hour south of here in New Orleans.So,I don't see them alot.But, I do talk to all 3 alot.We share everything about our lives.We know every detail about each other.In fact,all 3 were part of my wedding.

I have one friend that has been in my life since we were 4 (we are now much, much... much older!) I have had other very close friends throughout the years but have found that most friendships seem to come and go over time, and that is okay too. People change as do their interests and needs. People move, people pass on. But the best relationships are the ones who know you best and still like you, and you them.

And quantity does not mean quality any more than history does. I find we spend most of our time with the same friends most of the time, although is is great to get together with other people sometimes.

I can say that my husband has been my very best friend for over 13 years now, and I do not see that changing.

Sarah

Friendship is something discussed a lot on our Married No Kids forum. It is sad that a lot of us have lost touch with friends after they started having kids (and in my case, move out to the suburbs). It's a real struggle keeping these friendships going because interests have completely changed, but on the other side it's really sad to lose these friends.

In my case I have moved around a good deal and tend to have a few close friends from my undergrad degree, a few old family friends (our parents were close friends and we grew up together) and a couple of close friends in the new city. That seems to be my pattern. I have noticed that friendships have gotten a lot more difficult than they used to be, and particularly in the 30s when every woman I know is busy raising kids. People are also just horrible at keeping in touch, even with email, cell phones and Facebook! I miss my male friends but they tend to drop out as soon as they find a long-term partner...I have two left. My friends tend to be either in their 20s or in their 50s, as it seems these two groups are open-minded and into a lot of different activities, so I meet them more often.