Where to Meet New Friends Worthy of Your Company

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How many real friends do you have? Not acquaintances or the fair-weathered variety, but honest-to-goodness genuine friendships.

Here are a few examples of what I mean by real friends.

• They’re there for you in your most challenging times, like when a loved one passes or you’ve lost your job. Anyone can hang around when the going is good. The ones who are there when life drags you down are genuine.
• You can converse with them on a deeper level. Chit-chat is fun, but we all need people we feel comfortable confiding in.
• They have your back when you’re not around. The person who sits idly by as someone eviscerates your character is not my idea of a true friend.

Even if you have just one or two people like this in your court, you’re fortunate. Because when it comes to meaningful friendships, quality overshadows quantity.

Real friends are worth investing in and cherishing for a number of reasons. From a health standpoint, people with strong social bonds experience a reduced risk of depression, high blood pressure, and other maladies. We’re essentially social creatures (even those of us who tend to be introverted) who are wired to interact with others.

And social media just can’t adequately fill this need.

Now, I’ve connected with some good people on Facebook and Twitter, but these interactions are not the same as being able to give someone a hug, share a warm smile, or communicate on a meaningful level.

 

Where to Meet New Friends

So where do you go to develop friendships that are worthy of your company and time?

Finding people you want to invite into your inner circle is not always easy, especially if you’re shy, are an introvert, work alone, are a senior, an empty nester, or have just moved to a new neighborhood.

While you can meet good people just about anywhere, there are certain environments that may increase your chance of meeting friends worthy of your company. To identify these environments, start by listing your values, hobbies, interests, and passions, then figure out the types of places where these people tend to hang out.

If you’re still stuck, I have some ideas on where to meet new friends. While these aren’t guaranteed to result in friendships, they are in my experience, good places to start.

 

Pursue an Interest

If there’s a hobby or something you’ve always wanted to learn, there’s likely a club, class, or organization dedicated to it.

Just a few examples to get you thinking:

• Knitting
• Swimming
• Horseback riding
• Sweepstaking
• Astronomy
• Scrapbooking
• Scuba diving
• Candle making
• Soap making (paid Amazon link)
• American history
• Dogs
• Cats
• Photography
• Birdwatching
• Singing
• Chess
• Drawing (paid Amazon link)
• Writing
• Ballroom dancing

 

 

 

Volunteer for a Good Cause

It gets exhausting to watch people complain on social media, doesn’t it? Hashtags don’t solve problems and aren’t a replacement for real involvement. It’s much more productive (and less of an energy drain) to do actual good. And one of the best ways to accomplish this is by joining an organization dedicated to your values.

With hundreds of organizations out there calling for volunteers -whether pet shelter, food pantry, senior center, or literacy program- you’re bound to find a good match. Or try searching a site like VolunteerMatch for inspiration.

 

Play On a Sports Team for Fun

The double benefit here is that while you’re meeting people, you can also stay in shape. You don’t even have to be a pro. Find a team that’s more committed to fun and comraderie than it is to winning.

To find teams, look to churches, your local YMCA, or sports-specifics organizations. USA Pickleball, for example, maintains a list of pickleball teams around the country that you can join.

 

Consider Church and Other Places of Worship

Even if you’ve had a bad experience in the past, that doesn’t mean all congregations will be the same. Some are more welcoming and committed to their members than others, so you may have to experiment before finding your special place.

Try to find a congregation that offer special interest groups within their community. The churches I’ve belonged to, for example, have actively sought volunteers to participate in activities like singing in the choir, doing outreach to seniors, being part of prayer groups, or helping raise money for their programs.

 

Join a Book Club

Given that book clubs are usually a place where people go to share ideas and insights, you have an opportunity to get to know people better on a less superficial level.

To find a book club near you, some good places to start with Barnes and Noble or other bookstores, or your local library.

 

 

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Make Contact With Childhood Friends

Sometimes it’s not a matter of figuring our where to meet new friends, but to reconnect with our old ones. Our first friends are some of the best friends we’ll ever have. They knew us at a time of our lives when we were free to be ourselves without the pretenses or complexities of adulthood.

It may feel intimidating to reach out to someone you haven’t seen in years or even decades, but at least from personal experience I can tell you it’s worth it. The worst that can happen if you reach out is that they reject you. On the other hand, you might just reconnect with someone special.

 

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t meet people worthy of your company right off the bat. It takes time to cultivate genuine friendships, but they are so worth it.

 

This post contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support!