Why do some women have such a hard time making friends: Nature or nurture?
Many women write to me perplexed about why they can’t form close friendships. They try new approaches, put themselves in all the right places, see therapists, and read relevant self-help books. They consider themselves interesting, loyal, kind, and friend-worthy people. But for reasons unknown to them, they have a tough time forming the intimate relationships other women seem to have and that they covet for themselves. Many admit to not having even one close friend.
A recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology offers some clues as to how both nature (personality) and nurture (experience) impact our friendships. Researchers at the University of Virginia and University of Toronto, Mississauga studied more than 7000 American adults between the ages of 20 and 75 over a period of ten years, looking at the number of times these adults moved during childhood. Their study, like prior ones, showed a link between “residential mobility” and adult well-being: The more times participants moved as children, the poorer the quality of their adult social relationships.
But digging deeper, the researchers found that personality—specifically being introverted or extroverted —could either intensify or buffer the effect of moving to a new town or neighborhood during childhood. The negative impact of more moves during childhood was far greater for introverts compared to extroverts.
“Moving a lot makes it difficult for people to maintain long-term close relationships,” stated Dr. Shigehiro Oishi, the first author of the study, in a press release from the American Psychological Association, “This might not be a serious problem for outgoing people who can make friends quickly and easily. Less outgoing people have a harder time making new friends.”
Families often have to relocate—across town, across the country, or across the globe. Yet, in many cases, their kids and young adolescents haven’t yet built up a bank of friendships or garnered sufficient experience at making new friends and at handling rejection. So the conventional wisdom is to try to minimize moves for the sake of your child, whenever possible, and to move at the end of the academic year. Additionally, parents are advised to monitor and, if necessary, help guide their children’s friendships during the first academic year after a move, which generally is the most difficult.
Moves during childhood affected adult friendships differently because of the unique interplay between nature (personality type, which is determined in part by genes) and nurture (in this case, the moves) for different individuals. That makes the answer to the question of why some women are more successful than others in making friends extremely complex. And this study raises the question of how many other factors come into play that we haven’t even yet considered.
Category: MAKING FRIENDS
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Many of these stories could be me.
It’s all there–the mother who kept to herself and discouraged friendships and then ridiculed when and if I seemed to have no friends; a sister who bullied; a grandmother who bullied; etc. etc.
Leads me to think that we need a group for “Women who have no friends.” We’d get along great!
In her bio, Tina Fey talks about being in the group of outcast girls in high school. Now she wonders, “Why didn’t we talk to each other?”
Stumbled on this article while wonder what is it that a woman my age 70 years old has very few if any close friends. The reason for searching this question is I recently spoke to a neighbor whose wife was stricken by GBM a brain cancer with less than 12 months to live, and all the friends who come to visit from all,over the country USA and Canada, as well as having to get a larger mail box to receive all the hundreds of cards that keep coming.
My heart aches for this man as he cries just updating on her recent treatments. With a heavy heart I praise her because she has made so many friends and mourn her prognosis. How did she and what are her traits that would cause her to have such a broad friendship base? What does she do? I’ve only been with her twice before her sudden diagnosis and don’t really see or know what traits she has. Another neighbor became instant friends with this woman and is in tears when she tells me how she is helping this woman. Again, my heart aches for she and her husband about their future.
It’s sad that I was unable to get to know her before her plight as she just moved in the neighborhood less than a year ago. So I ask what is it that a person does to attach so many people to her? I want to develop more friends but don’t know how. I was raised as a Cinderella in our house as oldest of dour kinds and my mom was always in a slump because she felt overburdened with us four girls. She never was kind and loving as I was to my own son, who she despised. Long story there, but would enjoy more friends, but don’t trust, as that is most likely the issue. Thanks for listening.
I think you’re right. It’s trust. And your neighbor – I also know women like that. I watch and wonder. What makes them so special that people want to spend time with them? I mostly see nothing special except that they are outgoing.
I’ve also noticed that people generally want something from friendships and I have nothing to offer.
I mostly turn down invitations to things and have drifted away from old friends.
I had a good friend several years ago and she was very catty and started to make little jokes about me. When our daughters got in an argument, she dumped me and never spoke to me again. And that’s why I don’t trust…
Let’s make a group of women who don’t have girlfriends! I think you’re on to something!! I can totally relate to this article. I’m introverted and shy. I also moved a lot as a kid and was picked on or burned by a lot of female friends throughout my adolescence. Every single female friend I’ve ever had had burned me in some major way, which makes me wonder… Do I have trust issues with other women? Or perhaps just your typical women? I’m bery laid back and unintersted in typical “women” things like fashion, celebrities, reality tv, etc. etc. I enjoy helping people, deep conversations, and active outdoor activities. I don’t in any way think I’m better, but I’m definitely bored by your typical woman.
I don’t know if it’s trust issues or?? Over the years I’ve had 3 close, long term friends “unfriend” me for no apparent reason. I have tried to figure it out, bounced it off other people, and can’t come up with any legitimate reason. I even thought of going to see a counselor or therapist, but I thought why should I? I didn’t desert the relationship, they did! It makes me kind of angry right now talking about it. But all I know, is like you say, it’s happening to a LOT of women. My 2 grown daughters (25, 29) are also experiencing it. I’m 52 and right now pretty much friend-less. I am not shy any more (use to be) but no matter what I do, or say, I cannot seem to make friends! I am in a strong marriage, and fortunately I do think my husband is my best friend, but sometimes it’s nice to have some (one?) female friend to talk to, and do “girly” things with. Sheesh, life is to short!
Courtney, you sound just like me. I’ve often wondered if the reason why I don’t have friends or am unable to maintain them well is simply because I get bored pretending to be interested in small talk and meaningless conversations. I love deep conversation and I prefer doing things purposefully. I’d much rather help a friend weed her garden than go to lunch with her. I’ve also found it difficult to find women who are loyal. I realize everybody has their issues but after putting in time, effort and energy to have a friend just stop talking to me, it’s difficult to justify putting in the effort again down the road. I have too many things I’m interested in to waste time on a fruitless relationship! Lol. If I am honest I don’t feel the need to make friends most of the time until I think of how lovely it would be to have a friend who is like me. It would be pretty great to meet someone who expands my mind, who likes purposeful activities and who is willing to talk through any random issue rather than drop the friendship like a bad investment. Is there such a thing? And if so why must if be so darn elusive!
I feel the same way. I am the type of person who is a friend for life. But most seem to be drawn to those who will stab them in the back. I tried an experiment by even trying to be friends with the mean girls. Even they didn’t want me, lol!!! I also tried joining the fake girls group. They didn’t want me either. But For most of my life I tried joining the genuine girls group and it still doesn’t work out for me. Frustrating. I feel like if they really knew me….
Hi Everyone – I’ve thought about the friendship topic a lot. I think many of the problems stem from this…deep down, you have to ask yourself: What do you have to offer people? So…..I am a native of California, moved to Chicago for a few years when my kids were 1 and 3 and my husband, kids and family moved back to California when my kids were in 1st and 3rd grades…..well, let’s just say, it didn’t go great for any of us socially. I can attribute it to the following:
1)I worked. Most of the moms were stay at home moms and I had (and still have) a really cool job but I couldn’t “offer anything” to that group. They basically kept me at arms length since I couldn’t socialize with them during the day and could only occasionally host play dates. I always drove carpool, chaperoned at field trips…yet these women would say “Oh! I didn’t think YOU’D be here”. It was the worst. On one occasion, the 2nd grade class (moms of the kids) were hosting a faculty lunch for all the elementary school teachers. It was March and the theme was a “green lunch”. I asked how I could help. Could I make something green that could be served? After several offers someone finally responded and said,”Yes, drop off your item at someone’s house”. So, I bought several artichoke, spinach, pesto green dips and loaves of bread. I kid you not…..this green food was returned in my mailbox, unused. When I asked why…..the response was: “We didn’t need it after all”.
2)It seems all these moms had already met and had their mom groups made when their kids were infants, or at preschool or kindergarten. 1st and 3rd grade was way too late, apparently.
3)My husband is a scientist and didn’t really fit with the other dads who are mostly the fratty, sales, bankers, golfers, ex profesional athletes.nice guys, I will say. But my husband didn’t play golf….or surf….or haven anyone else in his field….and his wife worked….so that cut us out too.
4)The same shit happened to my husband too…he wanted to join a daddy daughter group and they said it was closed since it was formed when the kids were in kindergarten. WTF
5)My kids are a little different. One is really smart and quiet and not really athletic. She is an awesome kid and an awesome adult but when we got in the athletic circuit, she was a bit of bench warmer all the way through high school…and wasn’t Miss Congeniality to make up for it. So, that was a pretty lonely experience. The other kid is very athletic but not very academic and what you would call a “spirited” kid. A big heart but the kid cracking jokes. Later she had mental health challenges that were not the type one could keep private. She graduated from an alternative high school and studied abroad and started college early. So, in each case, my kids weren’t the kind that other mothers wanted their kids to be like. Also, pretty lonely and sad. I live in the kind of neighborhood that emphasizes academics, athletics and getting into top, top colleges. The moms organize the social lives for the families and very few of the moms work plus they wanted their kids to associate with a certain kind of successful kid and my kids didn’t fit that part.
So, that is I think the basis of my friendship problems. I still live in the same neighborhood and I recently was diagnosed with cancer…chemo, double mastetomy, the whole deal for one whole year. Most of these women pretended like they didn’t know. A couple of them were great. A few of them would drop off a shitty $5 orchid with a card that said something like “I’ll be rooting for you from the sidelines”. Really???? Wow, that makes me feel great. I know people who had cancer who had volunteers who were strangers come over and do their laundry, etc. I didn’t need that but the whole experience made me feel like people who were “rooting for me from the sidelines” were just checking off a box. So, I know that if you aren’t close to people before cancer, just because you have cancer won’t really change a thing. Just saying.
I have a husband, 2 kids and we are all close and I have a handful of friends. I do wish it had worked out better for me and our family, socially, and we all really experienced a lot of hurt feelings. And I would say we still do. Or else I wouldn’t be spending the time to write this.
On the other hand, I do have people who want to be my friends (not from my neighborhood, I might add) who are very needy and I don’t want to be friends with them. They barely acknowledged my cancer but want me to fix their work problems or help them interview, etc. One day I looked at my phone and had 5 messages….they were all from people asking me for favors: helping their kids get internships, helping someone with their social media strategy, crying on my shoulder about their work.
So, everyone who is having trouble making friends should also ask themselves:
1)Do I only call people when I want to dump a problem on them and have them fix it for me?
2)Am I there for the person when they are in need?
If the answer is YES to the first one and NO to the second one, I’m not interested in being your friend. I survived cancer and don’t want to waste my time.
Also, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, in the end, people like positive people who have “something to offer”. That “something to offer” part sucks but it’s true. I didn’t have anything to offer the stay at home moms in the neighborhood (I love them all dearly, but my kids and husband didn’t help matters…LOL!) It was more work than fun for them to be friends with me and there was nothing in it for them, so they took a pass.
Bee, I really agree with your thoughts on friendship. I think friendship is a continuum (rather than an on-off switch), the vast majority of which is determined not by some deep-seated sympathy and affection but by what the friends have to offer, in the ways that you described. I think that more friendships than one would expect are based on material concerns; participants might not expect to cash out literally, but many of their friendships are about connections, material aid, that sort of thing. I also think people look for validation for their own life choices from their friends, which is why so many people choose friends who are very much like them in life situation. Over decades I’ve watched married couples drop single friends in favor of married couples; and then when they had children drop anyone who didn’t have children. Sometimes this behavior makes no sense to me; I’ve listened to one friend (who is married) complain about socializing with a group of married couples, some of whom he just doesn’t like – but he still does it!
It pains me to read many of the stories on this board, since I think that many people here blame themselves (or a disrupted childhood) for difficulties making friends. But it strikes me – from reading these stories, as well as from reflecting on my own life – that one of the biggest problems with many friendships is mismatched expectations: one person wants an emotional connection, the other wants connections and the occasional play-date for their children. I also wonder – is there something necessarily wrong with those of us who moved around a lot, and who therefore have difficulty making friends? Certainly, the original research presented it as such (e.g., frequent moves as inflicting psychological damage). And I would not want to deny the pain and stress of frequent childhood moving (having suffered through it myself). But I also wonder if there’s not an upside. I have difficulty making friends because on some level I don’t need friends – or I don’t need them in the same way that others around me need them. Because I learned so early to entertain myself and stand on my own two feet, I have never been interested in certain kinds of socializing, which always seemed like “filler.” In contrast to the friend mentioned above, I can’t imagine doing dinner with a bunch of married couples, when I didn’t like some of them, or found them annoying. Clearly, I’m in the minority, which limits the number of people whose expectations are likely to match my own (re. friendship), but that doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with me – or with anyone else here who doesn’t engage in the “normal” round of (American) friendships.
I am so happy to be reading all of these replies. It makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one out there experiencing this. I too have had a very difficult time making & keeping female friends in my life (I’m 52).
I have had 2 very close friends for several years (one in my 30’s, the other in my 40’s) “drop” me with no explanation. When it happened with the second one, it actually took me several weeks to even realize that she wasn’t responding to my texts. Or she did, and would make vague comments about getting together, but would never commit to a date and time. I was tempted to just call her and ask what was going on, but I tried to save face and eventually I let it go…due to an impending move out of state.
So here I am in a new state for about 9 months now, and I have met a few ladies, but I’m seeing this pattern again…they just “disappear” after we have done a few things together. I have replayed every conversation and really tried to think if I’ve said or done something wrong-I come up with nothing. I have talked extensively to my hubby and older daughter (my sounding boards) and we can’t figure this out. I really feel like giving up, but I really do like having a female to hang out with & talk to-especially due to the move being 10+ hours away from my sisters. I don’t even want many(just one would be really nice) or to be super close to that person (we all have our own lives with jobs and families, etc)….I don’t think I’m asking too much!!
I can relate to much of what you posted. My husband is a scientist and we moved to a new area of southern California when my daughter was entering 1st grade. I couldn’t believe how cliquey both the moms and kids were. And both of my kids aren’t followers for the sake of being popular. It was a very difficult move for all of us. And I never did become close to any of the moms from school, just one person who’s kid was also new. People are very competitive where I live which I don’t like. Luckily, I was able to meet women from a town over that are more down to earth and whom I can relate to. If I was relying on people from my neighborhood for friendship I’d be mighty lonely. Volunteering and classes I’ve taken helped me meet nice people.
Christy B: Thanks for responding. Such similar experiences….we’re kindred spirits.
Whitby: I agree the mismatched expectations is another factor that can add to the awkwardness and/or disappointment. And I too am very good at entertaining myself and standing on my own two feet and probably don’t have as much of a need for companionship as the average person.And some of those lovely people in my “hood” who blew me off would go grocery shopping together every week. Sorry…that’s too much for me!
Anyway, I would like to thank you both again for responding and validating my thoughts. Obviously it’s still confusing and still hurts or I wouldn’t have felt the need to pour my heart out in the post. Hard to not take it personally. I still struggle with that. Thank you again…it made me feel understood and less alone.
I’ve had trouble making and keeping friends ever since I was about 10. In junior high my best friend ‘dumped’ me over the telephone. She specifically said ‘I don’t want to eat lunch with you anymore next year’ (this was over summer break). It was really scarring for me and years later I contacted her to say hi and she had no memory of this even occurring! When I reminded her she said, ‘omg I did do that’ flippantly, and acted as if it wasn’t a big deal.
My college roomate passive aggressively left me a note during spring break. I had asked her early on in the school year if she wanted to live with me next year and she said yes. She was friends with another girl who was also looking for an apartment with us, and she wrote in the note that the other girl didn’t like me and they were going to look for housing on their own now, without me. She didn’t have the courage to tell me even, just a note on my desk when she left for spring break. Leaving me in a very bad position, as I did not sign up to renew housing for next year.
In my entire life, women act like it’s so much work to keep in touch with me. I would call who I thought were my close friends probably once every 2 or 3 months to say hi and catch up with them. They would never call me. When I asked them why they said they were busy. Well everyone’s busy. I’m busy too. Eventually I just stopped calling, and I never heard from them again.
I now have such a bad impression of women in general I feel like I need to see a therapist. Except I cant see how it would help since I hate therapy and digging up the past. I’ve thought about seeing a life coach instead to figure out what it is that I’m doing (if anything). But this person would have to observe me in social settings and the idea of paying someone to just watch me socialize seems depressing in and of itself.
Everyone else I know has a stronger social network than I do. I see so many people in my life who aren’t that great who have women that love and support them. I think I’m a great person, and I don’t understand, for the life of me, why I don’t have anyone to support me.
At work I have invited some coworkers over to my house to watch game of thrones. They’ve come over about 5 or 6 times. They usually have lunch together. I eat lunch by myself. I’ve hinted and asked them if they could let me know when they are having lunch so I could join them. But nothing. There is literally no woman who wants to have anything to do with me even though I am knowledgable, engaging, and interesting.
No one asks me to hang out, no one calls me to talk. And when I’ve brought up the lack of support to my ‘friends’ all they do is get defensive or mad at me. Like I’m such a strange person. But from what I’ve witnessed of ‘normal’ relationships its supposed to go both ways. I don’t get why theoretically everyone wants more friends, and everyone wants to feel supported, and to a lesser degree maybe support others, but why doesn’t any woman want that with me? What am I doing that is so wrong to them.
I’ve really racked my brain over this. But can’t seem to figure it out. I’ve literally experimented with being every version of myself (more polite, less polite, more funny, less funny, talk quieter, talk louder, talk more about myself, just listen to the other person, active listening and echoing what people say, confronting people using techniques from books about difficult conversations, not confronting people, smiling more, smiling less etc). I’ve read a ton of books on socializing none of which were useful. I’ve seen a therapist about this back in the day before I got really busy. Not helpful either because they wanted to dig up the past.
Anyways I’ve just come to realize that women suck, but somehow I can’t fully accept this because I’m also a woman and I think I don’t do these terrible things. So I don’t know what to think except I’m afraid of women. Literally. It’s gotten so that I’m also afraid of telling women I have no friends, or have trouble making/keeping women friends. I’m afraid they will judge me and/or use it against me.
One time a ‘friend’ I had got defensive when I asked her why she never calls me, and said ‘good luck with your life. you just don’t know how to deal with people’. Now I feel like the more I tell these women what my weakness is, the less they think of me, and if they perceive me acting strangely will use it against me saying ‘well you have no friends anyway’. So I don’t even tell anybody any of this! I don’t want people to think they can treat me however they want because I’m so lonely and dependent on their relationship.
Anyway, I can honestly say this is the single biggest thing that bothers me in life. I’m successful. I have a PhD in a STEM field, and a good job. I’ve always been able to have a boyfriend. And even though I’ve met a lot of douchy guys, I’ve also met a lot of nice guys as well. But with women, I feel dissapointed by every single one of them. I’m 34 and of Chinese ancestry.
I kinda feel like you, female friendships are something of a mystery to me. I’ve always had a female best friend, but my other friends were male. I think it’s that we’re a bit too masculine in our personality for most women, where I’m not really into sharing my most personal feelings and intimate details of my life, which makes it hard for other women to “bond” with me. The only problem is I feel guilty having male friendships while being in a relationship, and distance myself from male friends while they are in a relationship(so the girlfriend doesn’t get upset). It could also be that women are aware of what you have accomplished and are intimidated at what they have to offer in return, or you are treating people with disdain because of your achievements(they aren’t good enough for you) and don’t realize it. Really smart people tend to do that, either correcting grammar, or always having the right answer, or talking above someone’s education level. Maybe you should just have male friendships as they may fit your personality better, and guys can talk about personal stuff just be prepared for a blunt honest answer. I think we make too much of having a multitude of friends thinking it equals happiness.
Wow, I could have said everything you wrote about myself as well! It gets quite frustrating at times. My problem is that I’m so adventurous in that I’ll go off and try new things/travel on my own that I’ve found other women cannot relate, but I don’t want to depend on only boyfriends to share my interests with. It can be a lonely position, but I’m so glad I’m not alone in my feelings.
You sound like an awesome friend! I would hang out with you, haha.
You sound exactly like me but I had friends until I stopped working. I met people through my children’s activities through the years but they just seemed to fizzle out after a while.
I tend to avoid people now because I feel like most women are judging what I wear and if I have manicured nails. I feel very isolated and my best friend pretty much dumped me after 30 years. I’ve always heard that these things are usually not your fault but maybe it’s more about the other person and their issues.
Now, I’m working in a small office and have noticed that the two new female employees have easily befriended women that have never invited me over to their houses or out any where.
So what’s their secret? I’m very suspicious of these women and maybe that’s why they don’t want to be my friend. I don’t get it. I’m sure I don’t smell bad, I’m nice and always offer everyone gum, candy and help when I can.
I could never bring myself to ask them why. One lady I’ve known for ten years is my age and the two new girls are much younger but they invite her over and go out to lunch with her. I’m very embarrassed that I don’t have friends any more. There’s something wrong with me I assume. I’m giving off vibes that repel people. Any ideas?
I read your thing and thought, Oh my gosh, this sounds just like me. I know I get along better with males as women tend to go on and on about themselves present circumstances and past. I must send off a vibe that just says I really don’t care can’t we discuss something else. My present job is with a young child so I don’t see too many adults female or otherwise. Oh well.
I’m sorry that you’ve experienced this kind of pain in your relationships with women. I know how much it can hurt because I’ve gone through the same.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1-Never accept a pattern of unkind behavior from a “friend”. Watch carefully, and if necessary end that friendship asap, because it will only get worse and in the end that friend may actually dump you afteryou have allowed her to emotionally abuse you.
2-Relax into yourself and begin to accept who you are, good and bad. Practice kindness but don’t try to change yourself for the purpose of getting someone to like you. If they don’t like you as-is, keep stepping.
3-Real friendships just happen- like magic! A conversation starts, you laugh at the same things, and voila you become friends without much effort.
4- When either you or your friend moves on in life- new job, new home, etc, be prepared to let go. Friends come into our life and we love them for that short time and then they move on. Hold friendships lightly, like a beautiful butterfly. Refusing to let go when the end is inevitable can leave you with pain and sad memories, rather than the good memories of the friendship.
Not sure if this is any help, but I tried for years to make friends with ‘typical’ women and failed badly. But I’ve since realised there are different types of women that I’m compatible with in different amounts. I can be polite acquaintances with really ‘girly’ women but rarely good friends. I think too logically and can’t follow all the unspoken social ettiquette. But I get on very well with other ‘nerdy’ types. I’ve made several close friends since switching career to IT and I’m now part of a small group that get on really well. So maybe try meeting different types of women. Everyone is different and shared gender doesn’t guarantee you’ll get along.
Of all of the things I have read on this subject, I think you’ve got it right. I was in the military for 7 years and had wonderful female friendships. The things we had in common were independence and sence of adventure and we were all in the same place. Before and after the military my jobs have put me in settings with other women that think I am from Mars if for even going into the military..
You are not alone. It is very hard to find a decent female friend. After having a so-called friend that turned out to be the exact opposite (after acting like a friend for years, she used whatever leverage she had to try to tear me down further when someone I loved died a sudden and horrible death) and other women that would act like a friend one day and a snob the next, I now don’t trust women and don’t waste my time. I prefer to get wrapped up in my own work (science field) and hobbies. I think feelings of envy and jealousy are the driving emotions for most women and people who give in to those emotions are incapable of being good friends. You said that women “suck”; from what I’ve experienced, women are some of the most evil beings. You’re intelligent, successful and, given that you have always had a boyfriend, you are probably attractive. Women are threatened by all of that. And, if you’re thin …. they hate you. Don’t beat yourself up though. It’s not you, it’s them.
They cannot have friends because they are selfish and narcissistic. Not all but most. In friendship you cannot only take you also must give something. Most women believe the status of being friends with them is enough from their part. Well it is not.
Fair weather friends are not worth your time or mine. My best friend ignored me for 2 months, literally wouldn’t answer texts or calls because my husband told hers that we went on vacation this summer. I didn’t tell her we had vacation planned because I didn’t want to brag. Why is it when we are successful, fairly attractive and happily married that we cannot have good friendships too? (consequently, I’m not a mean or bragging type person and kind to everyone). Laura
Hi Laura, I so totally agree with you. Fair weather friends are the worst. I too have just had a weekend away with my husband and children, didn’t tell anyone as I’m not a person that brags. But a ‘friend’ had to tell me all about her holiday in the summer holidays. They brag on Facebook,in my opinion Facebook ruins friendships as people put down too much information on there and brag what they are doing, who they are with, where to, what time, and what they are eating!!! I’ve been off Facebook for 9 months as I felt it was all getting too much. There are a lot of drama queens on there, friends who update their status loads throughout the day. Lack of self-esteem! One of my ‘friends’ who live just down the road from me, couldn’t even find any time in the 6 week summer holiday to see me for coffee and chat. She had 10 days off without her children as they were staying with relatives. I said to her on a few occasions by text to let me know about meeting up, she never did. That’s not what I call friendship at all. I haven’t seen her or heard from her since. I’m moving on, I don’t want to be treated this way by someone I thought was a friend. I’m always the one reaching out, not anymore. Be with true friends, or be happy with your family that’s what I intend to do now.
Well since many of them have their Careers which Most of them are very greedy and selfish besides having a very serious Attitude Problem certainly will have a lot to do with it why many of us Good men are single.
Also alot of good women like myself are single because we don’t play into vanity and have good morals and are always overlooked. I am a good catch but circumstances in my life have made me independent. I do see how women in relationships treat others and most good men go for the bitchy terrible types. It’s a shame.
I often tell my husband, if I were a man, I don’t think I would be able to tolerate women as friends or partners. The career part is interesting since the women out here in the suburbs that I’ve met live through the success of their husband’s years of hard work. They would not have their mac-mansions or any sort of life if they had to rely on their own smarts or hard work. Although I’ve been happily married for 40 years, I’ve had my own career side by side with my husband and earned more than he did. At 66 years old, I can count on one hand the women I’ve known that worked full time for 35 years. There will be comments saying the women worked just as hard in the home raising children. So to that I say, the same women I refer to above have adult children living back home with them, or on welfare, or worse. Maybe 10% have successful children. Even putting the career aspect aside, there is no denying that most women are overwhelmingly selfish, self-centered,
delusional about their own merits. Good luck being a man that needs women in today’s society!
Yea, you sound like a nice, sane person with so many friends! EXPLETIVE DELETED BY MODERATOR.
Thank you, Jamie, for illustrating my point for me!
Hi Francesca,
Do you think the self indulgent narcissism of adult women is the result of the “real housewives” culture? Or is it something that has always been around. I find that I cannot relate at all to my adult female family members because of they constantly scrutinize and gossip about everyone they know including each other. They are obsessed with counting each other’s money and sucking up to people that they feel they can benefit from socially. I feel like this is in part due to the media selling women delusions via “reality tv.”
I grew up with a mother who had no friends. The only time we ever had anyone at our home was for Thanksgiving dinner. Those guests were all relatives of my father. I don’t know why my mother was the way she was but her brother, who never married, was the same. He had no friends and often stated that he never wanted or needed one.
When I was a teenager I brought a coupe of friends from school home with me. After they left my mother told me never to bring anyone home again. She never told me the reason so I never understood the whole thing. I was 14.
I left home to go to school at 18 and never went back again except twice at Christmas. I actually never felt as if I had home. Now that I’m a lot older I still tend to be the same way. I’ve never really learned how to be close to be more than one or two people at a time. I did marry, altho my husband has since died. I have two sons but they live on the other side of the country.
My conclusion is that having been raised as I was removed my understanding of how one learns to achieve friendship with others. If you don’t learn that while young I’m not sure you understand how to go about it as you mature.
Some thing I’m sorry to say I never really learned. Always wondered what my life might have been like if I had lived with a mother who was outgoing and fun.
Any mother’s with young children should consider that.
I so totally get this.
my mother worked and was a single mom. And she was an introvert.
she never made friends or did anything. never wanted to be involved in volunteer work at school and discouraged me from brining home friends mainly because money was limited and she didnt want to feed two kids an afterschool snack. but it was more than that. she just didn’t like people and didn’t have tolerance for other kids.
now as an adult, ive tried desprately to be the outgoing fun lively girl. but it never works. im not that outgoing. people dont like me. they do on a serface level but not enough to reach out and call or text me. i tried reaching out to 5 ppl today. all of them busy. and i promise on thier days off they wont be texting me to see if im free for fun. but i will see them on facebook or instagram drunk with thier friends at events and places i could have gone to if id been invited…but wasnt. i mean im not the type to go to a concert or club alone.
i tried that before and it was awkward. i tried going up to a group of people. they were all chatting. i tried to join in, introduced myself, shook hands with everyone, and then they went right back to thier conversation and slowly tightened up thier circle until i was standing next to them with thier backs turned to me. so i went back to drinking alone at the bar…
and if that doesnt happen when i go out alone, no matter where i am, day, night, whatever, i still don’t meet new people. its always a creepy 45 to 55 year old man hitting on me. im 31. they always see me alone and prey on me. always some perv or wierdo cones up to me…
it makes me not want to go out alone because i feel vunlerable and targeted…
and if i do invite people out its rare they accept. and when they do, its to a movie, where we spend most of our time not ineracting with ine another…
or i can only get my one friend to go out who will always bring her bf. and then im the 3rd wheel on thier fun date…
im so sick of being ignored. lost in loneliness and negativity. i want to be happy. outgoing. connected to the world. and people..
Christina, I definitely understand where you’re coming from. I am 29 and have no close friends. Everything you described I relate to. I think at our age its kind of difficult because we are not into the “party” scene anymore and also a lot of women our age are planning their weddings and/or having babies. Married women tend to only hang out with other married women…
There are lots of Meetup groups for women your age. Just find something you are interested in be it art, hiking, anything really and there should be a Meetup group close by. The purpose of these clubs is to bring people together who have common interests. Just an FYI. I know this because a lot of groups are age restricted and it sucks for a young minded 53 year old who doesn’t want to sit around in a group of like aged women talking about our ailments lol.
I have to agree with Dac. When you’re engaged in something you’re interested in with like-minded people you can focus on the activity. This takes the pressure off people who find it difficult to converse naturally. Interaction will usually evolve through the process of the activity you’re sharing. Some will click with you, others won’t. I would encourage all not to take it personally. There is nothing wrong with you. There are a lot of different types of people and finding good friends is often just a process of trial and error. I would also suggest trying EFT (emotional freedom technique related to relationships). Nick Ortner of “The Tapping Solution” and Brad Yates have a ton of YouTubes related to relationships that may be helpful. If you have the resources you can work with a certified practitioner to address your specific issues. EFT has been scientifically proven to be a legitimate method to address a host of issues.
Hi Christina. F* those other women that ignore you, don’t even bother with them. If they would do that to you, they’ll do it to someone else as well. That’s not the kind of social group you want to be part of, right? Ignore anyone that ignores you and don’t give them the time of day. Pursue your interests, and meet people who you have things in common with – but don’t judge people that are older than you, they might not BE creepy old weirdo’s, they might just want to chat. You can control how far that goes. Don’t feel insecure to be alone. Show others that you enjoy your own company but be open to opportunities. If you have this idea in your head about who would be your ideal friends, then maybe it’s not quite right. All the best. X
Wow this was my mom. My dad was very outgoing and friendly but my mom ruled the roost. No friends allowed! And no extra curricular activities after school, she is a classic introvert and remembering her mother much the same. My brother accused her of making us all socially stunted, it went right over her head. Like most of development ,children learn from their environment but how to break the cycle …..
My mom had no friends either. My parents were antisocial narcissists who fought with everyone (family, neighbors, each other). My sister was a “mean girl”, but was esteemed as someone with social skills by my family simply because she talked nonstop. My dad always called my friendless mom “a people person”. I had to be her friend, and deal with her adult problems (marital and body image) as a child. I was supposedly a happy, outgoing child…by the time i was 12, i hated myself. I was constantly put down as someone who “could not make friends” and was only valued for my grades. When I did make a close friend in college, my mom constantly ridiculed her for her weight and religion.
I have 3 close friends, despite all this (my college friend who was distasteful to my mom is still one of them). I am married with 3 kids. I think my Jacked-up childhood may have conferred on me good listening skills, since I had to always “be there” for mom.
However….it seems that recently, there has been a rash of people in my life who don’t care if I am there or not. Interestingly, they themselves may initiate plans with me, and then cancel without rescheduling. It’s like, seeing me on Facebook is enough for them. They are insincere. It’s like they like the idea of friendship with me, but not the actual friendship itself. I am still a good listener, and I suspect I have a good sense of humor. This also happens to hubby, which I don’t get (he’s really outgoing).
These days I am just focusing on my 3 close friends, hubby, my kids, and my gratitude in having them. I still doubt myself, and replay the comments about my personality from my family in my head. What if they were right? I almost feel like, mathematically speaking, I have made all the friends I am likely to make. Maybe I should just stop trying.
My situation is similar… I always had one or two close friends when I was younger, but they all left me to trade up, or I was traded out because of their boyfriend. Then once I started dating, my boyfriends would become my best friend, which obviously isn’t healthy. This has been going on for approximately 15 years, so since college I haven’t had a good girl friend, lots of acquaintances, but nobody I could open up to. And as you can imagine, every time I break up with a boyfriend it’s quite devastating for me. I even think the fact that I don’t have friendships has prevented me from moving forward in romantic relationships.
My theory as to why I struggle to make female friends can be directly linked to my mother. Growing up, (and to this day), my mother was very hostile towards me, manipulative, emotionally abusive, and above all verbally abusive. I can distinctly remember on many occasions my mother targeting me, and asking me why I didn’t have friends, and that killed me.
And honestly at the time I did have friends but I guess it wasn’t enough for her? More than anything she just enjoyed bullying me. So that woman raised me, and that is what I am made of and therefore it’s extremely hard for me to trust women.
Now that I’m getting older and I’m working with younger people and I see how they interact, and they are so nice… and it hit me very hard that I don’t have friends because I’m not nice. It’s that simple, in my mind I think I’m being nice and I think I have a good heart but because of my tough childhood i’m an army of one trying to fight off people. I’m defensive and unapproachable, and I really don’t go out of my way to be nice to people because I was never taught to do that. So I may be thinking nice things about people but I never say it.
Now that I’m an adult in a safe environment, I turned around and realize there’s nobody here to share this with me. So it is rough but I think every individual can dissect the past, even in the simplest form and try to understand the reasons behind it. It’s also nice to look into your past because you realize your belief system of yourself was given to you and you can change your beliefs system… unfortunately this is as far as I’ve gotten so I will keep you updated. lol
I am 58 and have always had a very hard time making friends also-my mother was a loner and I only remember her having one friend. I also feel that I never learned how to make friends. I am naturally shy and was brutally teased in school because of this. I truly like people but a deeply ingrained fear keeps me from approaching people. I have had friendships in the past that faded and I feel that i am unable to maintain contact with people.
I have no friends. I don’t have a great deal of close family. I am close to one family member. If something was to happen to them. I don’t know what I would do. I know their time on earth is drawing toward a close. When they are gone, I will literally have no one. This has made me think about friendship and what it takes to be a good friend. Growing up I never had a lot of friends. However, from what I have observed and read in articles, the key to making and keeping good friends is being a good friend. A good friend is someone who is forgiving, loyal, does not gossip, loving, kind, slow to anger, does not judge, keeps secrets. A good friend is an individual who doesn’t mind helping others in their time of need while wanting nothing in return. Sometimes, one attracts what they are. If you’re a gossip ( I have been guilty of on many occasions)you will either attract backbiting or turn off potential good friends. If you are helpful and encouraging, people will encourage you. I know that I am not helpful. I can be encouraging. Yet it is not always sincere. Most of all, there is a proverb that says in so many words, ” People are happy when a good man is succeeds, people a disappointed when a bad man wins.” I take this to mean, if you’re good to people, encourage them, and genuinely want the best for them they’ll relish in your success. They’ll go the distance to see you succeed. I have seen this with my own eyes. However, if you’re always competing with your friends, talking behind their backs and don’t really care about their success big or small, they won’t celebrate in your happiness. Most all being a good friend is about forgiveness. To what degree? I have no idea. I cannot continue to be friends with someone who constantly talks behind my back. I do not think anyone should. I will not be friends with a person who physically and mentally abuses me. There are, things that we should forgive. That is just my take on friendship, from what I have seen and heard.
Great post and timely for me. My best friend has just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. My husband is in his 70s. Friends? Yes, I have some but most are what would need to be called acquaintances. So sad to see these women dole out their friendship as if it were gold or some other precious commodity. They act as if they are losing blood if they give a warm smile or engage in kind conversation. Just as FYI: I’m in my 60s and have spent decades being that good friend, kind, thoughtful, giving, supportive. It doesn’t seem to matter as the women I know are secure in thinking they have close family that will support them in their time of need. They don’t need good friends. It’s called “us four and no more”, meaning all they need is their spouse and their two children. What they don’t realize is they are one son or daughter away from being as neglected as they neglect others. Maybe someday when I am in the retirement home with no family to assure my well-being, they might be right next to me just as lonely. You just never know.
Hi Jemstone! How old are you? I have a similar situation. How old are you? I have a husband and daughter but all my
Family has passed. Perhaps we can be friends. I’m in California. It’s so hard to make real friendships nowadays! I still rather have none though then a bunch of fake ones or ones where I have to compromise my likes and dislikes just to hang out. Take care!
I moved around a lot as a kid but that isn’t why I have a hard time making female friends. I just don’t relate and never have. In junior high when everyone became obsessed with growing boobs and talking about periods, I spent most of my time listening to metal and reading comics. I attempted to share my interests with my classmates but was mostly ignored or called “weird”. In high school while other girls obsessed over the boys and struggled to find a way to strike up conversations with them, I was going to their houses in the afternoons to play video games and watch splatter films. This led to being labeled as either a slut or a lesbian (confusing no?) and everything in between. In college everyone was obsessed with partying, hooking up, and looking good on social media. I spent most of my time actually going to class or at home studying and still don’t have an Instagram. Glossing myself up, going to a bar, and waiting for some guy to buy me a drink and tell me I’m pretty so I can accost him for it is not my idea of a rousing good time. Perhaps it is my generation or the area I grew up in but I have yet to meet a like minded woman I can share things with. At 29 I can say I have never had a true female friend and not for lack of trying. No matter how hard I look for a way to relate to the women I meet I always feel like I’m from another planet and the looks on their faces reflect as much. I’ve been getting called “so weird” in that nasal tone since kindergarten.
I feel like you just described whole life here. I moved around a lot. They always thought I was weird since I was a little girl. I meet new women and they automatically don’t like me. I am left confused and wonder what I did. I was never able to have a close friendship with them. Sometimes I feel I was born at the wrong time. I don’t have a instagram either.
I understand where you both are coming from. I too have struggled with this my whole life. It’s funny because I work in the beauty industry BUT I am NOT into this new culture of dolling yourself up to the nines just to take a ‘selfie’ and just to receive assurance that you’re attractive on social media. I enjoy the artistic experience of the industry…so I’m pretty that’s why I am often called strange.
Jessicka! Everything you were/are into (metal, splatter punk, comics) I like too and I am the only one of my friends without an Instagram or any other social media bc I see it as a time waster (people can always text or call if they need to get in touch). I would have totally been friends with you!
I managed to have a good circle of friends throughout school and am still best friends with three of them from high school, but was searching this topic after having a conversation with my coworker’s wife about her not having any friends and was wondering why, bc she seems pretty cool to me. I think it probably had to do with your area and maybe there weren’t a lot of tomboy girls around like there was growing up in Dallas and Austin, Texas. I am 27 so I don’t believe it is our generation either. There are awesome women out there I swear!
I think a lot of women are very COMPETITIVE. They see other women as competition socially, physically, financially, men wise, etc.
I think it stems from their own insecurity, but that doesn’t make it easier to find great women friends who are secure with themselves and just want to have a good time without the cattiness and competition.
They seem to be more dramatic at work, moody, petty, etc. where guys are just EASIER to deal with – in general, not always of course. I prefer not to be around women too much because I don’t have a good time and don’t enjoy it. Honestly, I’d rather be alone or hang out with dogs.
I also am not into “spa vacations” with other women. BORING!
But it doesn’t get any easier when your older either. I’m 53 and maybe I’m just tired of trying. I had easy friendships back in the day. Not it all seems like work. Nothing feels natural, it’s all forced. I just don’t want to have to work that hard for friendships. Maybe that’s on me. I really don’t need to be on the phone every day or hang out with someone every weekend etc. Maybe I’ve just gotten too old to require such close relationships anymore. I have my husband and my kids, a job etc.
Yes, the best friends I have are women I don’t have to talk to and keep up with constantly. Long-term women friends who welcome a phone call after weeks or months without a judgmental snarky dig like “Well, what a surprise to hear from YOU.” In middle age, I have learned that groups of women are often fueled with gossip about the other members, and the occasional cat fight or shunning of a member. Ugh, I just don’t to join the group, thank you very much. There is usually a queen bee who keeps this nonsense going. With age, I find I have to keep a friendly distance with some of my women “friends” who I know for a fact are gossiping about me because I sometimes cannot or will not follow the herd (of cats!). The women who pressure me, who try to guilt trip me when I’m busy or unavailable, are the worst. There is one queen in particular that is the major offender at the moment: she is effing relentless, and when she feels she is losing her grip on me, she lays on the guilt and more pressure. And of course, I run in the other direction! She gets her revenge by gossiping about me so she can feel more powerful. It’s crazy and exhausting. My solace lies in the realization that I cannot be the only one who recognizes this behavior.
Men have their own competition but they seem to be able to let things go and move on a lot more quickly than women. I have to admit: I prefer hanging out with men and find it much easier. No, I do not hate women: I do hate gossip, jealousy and relational aggression.
These days rather than trying to please women who want to put me down and one-up me, I practice self-preservation by relishing in own company, the company of men, the few long term women friends I know I can trust, and not stooping to the level of cattiness that many middle-aged women find comfortable and normal.
To Susan B.
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Being very much an individual who eschews herd mentality, I spend an awful lot of time in my own marvellous company. I have changed country a fair amount for work, but grew up in a large, gregarious family, who are all very sociable. I have few friends, but we maintain quality, if not quantity contact, for some 10, others more than 30 years.
At work, I have had the occasional twinge of jealousy regarding my colleagues-98% female- always hanging out. Then, on listened big to them, it’s all about boozing, going on, ad nauseum, about the latest tv, film, or gossip. There is not a shred of individuality amongst them.
To quote George Washington,”Better one’s own company, than bad company”. I try to inculcate that in my children as well, and encourage them to make quality friendships.
Sadly, the zeitgeist is superfluity and artifice and accumulating things, or people, so the sincere, warm and giving, in spite of a long very wit and spontaneity are not terribly appreciated. Church folk are actually no better. No matter. Just getting out and meeting folk, one always count mess across someone for a great chat. Even if it doesn’t go any further than that moment, it is still a gem. Cherish the true friends, a rare commodity, and family that you have.
I can relate in some respects, although I don’t feel too old to want/need those types of friendships. I’d love a group of women friends to do things with on occasion.
I used to have several best friends, but it’s been a long time. I miss having someone to call up and say, let’s have lunch, let’s go shopping, let’s just hang out and have coffee.
I am tired of trying. And I have tried. Even though I’m an introvert, I’ve put myself out there, I’ve reached out to other people, I’ve joined in, I’ve tried to connect.
I’ve come to the conclusion that at my age, people are more or less set in with their friendship base. They may be open to new friendships, but they’re not necessarily looking, nor do they need new friends.
I do get lonely on occasion, but I’m not unhappy. I like my alone time. That said, I’d also like some friend time.
It wasn’t as hard when I was a kid. I wasn’t the ‘popular’ girl, but I had quite a few friends nonetheless. I haven’t had a truly ‘best’ friend since college (and that was quite a while back).
I want a woman friend who understands where I am in life, what I’ve been through, and has some of the same interests as me.
That doesn’t seem too much to ask, but apparently it is. lol
Exactly how I feel, I can’t help but feel a little hurt sometimes. I know a group of women in my town that are my age. I have tried on several occasions to hint that I am available to go out or do whatever. But I have never gotten an invite. One woman in particular I have known for over twenty years, I see her on my walks around town walking with another person. I’ve extended the invite to walk but she has never responded. I can’t help but believe that this group of women do not care for me otherwise they would have asked me to some function through the years. So I spend most of my time alone. I have a daughter I am close to but she lives 4 hours away. My husband never wants to do anything but sit in front of the tv all night, and he resents when I try to go out because then he is alone. It’s all very depressing and I’ve just stopped trying.
Why not try a meetup for women in your age group. I want to do the same. I’m almost 51, and feel very lonely. Married, but friends live far away. Had two very close friends that died. I had a deeper friendship with them than my other friends.
I think you’re right Carole about people not needing new friends.
They already have established friends and don’t seem to make the effort. It’s a chilly world out there, and it would be great to have one person to be there for you – sort of like self-validation that someone will always have your back.
I have many acquaintances but it’s the same psycho-babble that is superficial and boring.
Good point made Barb. Men are WAY easier to work with. They’re grubby beings sometimes but they are not cats! I had an experience tonight where I was invited out to a rave with a buddy of mine. He said, ‘my girlfriend would love to see you.’ This polyamorous woman and I haven’t hit it off that well. Why? no Idea…Jealousy towards my looks? Her fiancé is kind of a flirt with women, as she has admitted and seemed fine with. Regardless, her body posture was squaring mine as she walked right past me tonight, without any welcoming or attention grabbing. When I saw her connect with all her friends on the dance floor, I decided to peace out! Not going there sista!
I almost feel as though beautiful women have a tougher time making friends. Or maybe it’s the way I come across, I do have strong features and a tough personality from working in the trades. My eyes can look pissed off when relaxed, for example. Good to keep bad coworkers away, bad for connecting with sensitive souls.
Sigh, it is tough out there! Tough to trust people!
I completely agree 100%! I have moved, but not enough for me to believe it’s impacted my interactions as much as me being bullied as a child, me being an introvert, and having issues with my identity when going through puberty. Give or take, maybe the reason I’m such a serious person now is because my mother had cancer when I was very young, and I grew up rather quickly, and hiding my emotions.
A lot of women are way too competitive. I get lonely, and am genuinely nice, until I realize wome/men are judging me based off my appearance or personality. I wish building friendships was easier, but life goes on, and you realize it’s a two way street commitment.
Now that I’ve moved away from my hometown, its tougher than ever. And I am met with a lot of stress and shyness in new social settings. I’m sure it’s rather counter productive, but my main thing was, I agree that women play those competitive fields way too much. And I’ve known chicks who would avoid inviting me out because they were afraid I’d tempt their boyfriends! $&#%
I will say that men tend to be cut more slack than women, despite the fact they can be equally devilish. I do think a narcissistic streak is incredibly prevalent in many women, though, and they seem to throw fits for any reason… I phoned my uncle for his birthday the other day and my aunt (by marriage) answered. I said, can I talk to my uncle, please, I’m phoning him up for his birthday… and she answered OH NOT TO ME THEN, flounced off and handed the phone to my uncle – actually I get on very well with him – and I thought, whew, what’s that all in aid of? My mother is an even juicier story – she really has got something wrong with her and complains to my father about me threatening to call the police if I so much as ring her up – not that I’ve even done anything mind you – she is a lost cause.
Went to a girls’ school and found most of the other girls ultimately lacking in intelligence and idiotic – turns out most of the nicer ones thought the same about the in-crowd, though, so I wasn’t alone. Even at reunions I haven’t found our year group particularly inquisitive or daring to think outside the norm – they are still at that same “school” level.
When I got married, MIL was jealous of me, as she had been a single mother and effectively married to my now ex-husband. He is now remarried to a Russian woman and he, she and their kids all live with his mother (mother would always want to keep a watchful eye on him).
I used to serve as a cashier in a DIY store and a girl who started the same time as me was always obnoxiously rude to me, and I could never figure out why. Then one day I served her mother and realized why. The woman was the rudest bitch from hell, and it wasn’t difficult to see why she was divorced. The apple obviously didn’t fall far from the tree!
Then I had trouble with women in a choir group who had all been there for 20 years and thought (as they were all married and I was single) that I was going to steal their husbands (fat chance). I left because I was fed up with the attitude.
I’ve also noticed that where I’ve been working together with a male on a project, and we’ve had to present something together, irrespective of how pleasant or efficient I am, I am always treated very negatively by women – they seem to like dealing with men more.
At this point in time, I have a chance to reboot my life and the best thing I can do is treat myself with self-respect, and not let anyone take that away. I do seem to be surrounded by men friends at present – only one of whom I have a sexual relationship, I hasten to add. My other friends do not want a sexual relationship with me, although we love each other, and I am very glad that pressure is not there (and no, they are not gay). Too much is made of sex nowadays and the proliferation of porn everywhere turns me off.
Anyway, like I said, I believe genuine self-respect to be the answer. If others can’t give respect to you, don’t run after them trying to make them like you. Be generally respectful and positive and hard-working in your daily doings and stay away from immaturity – you don’t have to participate, after all!
i agree with you 100 percent many women are soooo insecure, they want attention and heaven forbid you can do something they can’t. Especially in front of their husbands because it makes them feel inferior and like you are after them. I also am tired of running after women trying to make them my friends. I have finally just enjoy myself and my kids company. You just have to be happy and even happier knowing that they are not!
I have just joined and I have been through similar with other women. Although I would love the have a close female friend I find it impossible. I am in my 50s, but when I was younger I did exactly what Manay said, enjoyed my kids and myself. I probably was a better Mom because I did not have all the female nonsense to deal with. Fortunately , my husband is my best friend. Guys are so much easier to deal with.
That was my situation too until I got divorced after 25 years and now have no real good women friends. I always preferred my family and dogs to women friends. It’s not good to live for your kids, they’re not your entertainment, but I understand.
And it’s hard to meet decent guys after age 50 in my opinion!
you do realize that YOU are the common denominator in all those interactions, right? Perhaps turn the focus on to your own attitude.
This is such a typical arrogant and condescending comment from a woman. (“You do realize…”
After learning years ago during therapy that my childhood trauma and ensuing attachment disorder rendered me crippled in the art of friendship, I began observing the women I work with who seem to attract friends like bees to honey. And I came across an interesting similarity between these women who, as adults, attracted friends so easily.
And I found that they always spoke of friendships that went back to their childhoods, some from the ages of 7-8 years old! And I’ve pondered that fact and came up with the conclusion that, if as little girls, we were able to connect with others at our age of innocence and pure love, we never lose that ability.
Sadly, I’ve accepted the fact that although I have female acquaintances, my ability to truly connect was thwarted by a childhood so wrought with danger, I’m amazed I function at all as an adult. I’m sure I closed off a part of me that no one will ever see long, long ago and that part is the missing piece that would make me whole.
So in my uneducated opinion, along side the theory that just as moving multiple times as a child and a natural tendency towards introversion can hinder ones friendship making ability as adults, is the fact that many of us may lived through such soul-damaging abuse as little girls, we never had a chance to or learned how connect with other females.
We were too busy protecting ourselves and hiding our ugliness from others.
And here we sit as adults trying fix a problem that can never be fixed. It’s a hard pill to swallow but I’m thankful I married a guy who went through trauma of his own and we connected on a level that to outsiders, looks like a match made in heaven, but to us, we know it’s deeper than that.
We’re each other’s lifesaver.
Does this make sense to anyone else?
I think I understand. Even as a little girl of 7 or 8 I absolutely hated playing girly type games. I would much rather play baseball with the guys down my block. As a teenager it got a bit better because I had teams to play on. After hs I was lost. I really had no friends to speak of. I met my husband and had two kids. I found a coed softball league to be on where I felt I fit in. Then that eventually stopped. After that I put my efforts into working raising my kids etc. Now my kids are grown and I find myself with my husband in our home every night. I go nowhere I have no one to call. I use to have a book club I went to, the women there seemed to really like me. The woman that ran it even sent me a lovely note saying she really liked having me there and that I made everyone laugh etc. But now the only people I talk to are my family members. I find unless there’s a common subject to talk about that I really don’t have the enthusiasm to make conversation with most women. I know its probably me who is at fault. I find a lot of women very catty and clickish. I live close to nyc and find many women around where I live are from that area. They all seem to bond with each other over this. I have no interest in that culture. I think I am doomed to a life spent devoid of friends.
Well, you are blessed, at least you have children. My husband was hooked on prescription drugs and involved in many other things I was not aware of until we got married. Therefore, we don’t really communicate because we’re on different levels. I ‘ve attempted so many times to strike up a conversation, but he ends up getting mad or cussing, so I ‘m just actually alone with no one to really talk to; except of course The Lord, and I thank God for that!!!
I also live in the nyc metro area.. It’s impossible to make friends here!
I know, everything is all about NYC. Everyone seems to come from Brooklyn etc. I’m born and bred in NJ. Don’t really care for the city.
I identified with your post. I moved alot until the 5th grade. I have very close gradeschool/highschool friends from those years. We don’t hang out but do keep in touch. I haven’t connnected with many on that level since although we do have very close friends from our adult years but don’t seem to reach out to them like we should. I just think some people are more task oriented and have life circumstances that lend them to keep to themselves. Not that they don’t like people but just don’t have the energy to put out the effort. I also agree that women can be very clannish. I stear clear of those types.
Hey,
I just wanted to say that every single line you have written makes complete sense to me. I feel like we have both shared each other’s lives without even knowing each other’s names. I have total empathy for you, not because you and I have turned into scarred, incapable, helpless, negatively impacted adults but because I feel as if I fully understand your pain and struggle living through this. I too have felt the same way as you have for years and I know how much I’ve fought with myself to come to the happier, more relaxed state I am in now. I truly am grateful I’ve found an incredible lover and best friend in the same guy who has been instrumental in my life and trust me when I say, I couldn’t help but smile hugely when I read at the end of your comment that you’ve found the same happiness too in someone 🙂 You already know this but just to reiterate it; you must definitely be a wise, beautiful and strong person who has the ability to move a stranger just by the way you have some beautifully expressed yourself in your own words! I wish from the bottom of my heart that more girls and young women get the opportunity to have such a gem of a person like you in their life cause I am sure whoever knows you deep down and inside out knows you’re worth it and would never want to loose you and that to me is the best thing about our stories. More power to you and other such people!
I can totally relate as my husband and I are from the same cloth! Thank God I met him! I have no friends or family that care about either of us! Thank God we have each other !
Wow.Thank you for sharing I guess I am not the only one who feels this way.
Merry, your post makes perfect sense to me; in fact, it feels as though I could have written it. I fled an brutally abusive home while still young, served in the military and lived all over the world, but in all the ensuing years have never managed to acquire close female friends. I just don’t seem able to relate to most people, or they to me. Thank goodness for my husband, who is as introverted as I and loves the quiet life, too, surrounded by flowers and forest, books, music and wildlife. I confess to getting lonely sometimes, and envying the easy friendships other women seem to enjoy, but I’ve become resigned to it just never happening for me.
Interesting theory on the childhood friendship. I agree. I think it also has to do with confidence (which friendships dating from childhood would confer. You always had these friends, so never questioned your like ability. The more positive experiences you have and the longer the friendship goes on, the more difficult it would be to tell yourself you’re a loser.)
Confidence is everything. There are kind-hearted people out there with no friends, and self-centered people to whom others flock to. Why? If the latter like themselves (and they often do), others will follow suit, regardless of their character. People like winners. If you like yourself, you will never lack for friends, no matter what you offer, friendship wise. At least, this had been my experience.
Growing up, all of the women in my family treated me like sh*t, criticizing my behavior, appearance, personality, hobbies, and interests. They constantly demanded that I become someone I am not. Now, most of them are dead, and I have to say that often I’m glad they’re gone. Of the few who are not, I am, happily, estranged from them. I’m disappointed with my father, too, for not protecting me from their bullying since he had primary custody, and was an adult with the power to stop them. But now, I am used to having no family, and it doesn’t bother me. It feels much healthier, in fact, to be apart from them.
So in my case, I suppose it is nurture. I was transformed from an outgoing, extraverted kid into an adult who prefers keeping to herself. Throughout adulthood, when I have attempted to make friends, it’s always been a bust. In the past decade, I’ve been the one to end the friendship each time, by choice, and it’s always felt far better than having the friend in the first place. I view human company aside from my spouse as a boring obligation, a chore. Every man I have come across is ultimately only interested in sex or professional advancement at my expense. Every woman is interested in using me to boost their own self-esteem by putting me down, and I find I have very little in common with heterosexual women — we have nothing to talk about. Sometimes, I keep a small group of casual friends but lately, I haven’t bothered. The typical retort to this is “But you haven’t met every person in the world.” That is obviously true, but what the people saying this don’t get is, I have no desire to meet more people.
I enjoy being alone very much and at this point in my life, preferring to reject overtures of friendship. My choices prompt “journalists” and online magazine writers, particularly female writers, to pen huffy essays about how you “shouldn’t trust women with no female friends.” That is clearly their insecurity, not mine, and the meat of each essay is ultimately structured around the concern than I am out to steal their man. I am happily married, find het men totally unattractive, and am not in any way on the market. My existence presents no threat to them. It’s entirely in their heads.
I’m where this poster is at.
We just moved from a small to medium city to a rural small town. The moms have something in common. They are snootie in both places. But here, the moms my age are actively looking for victims rather than friends, and they must treat each other horribly, too. Their children can barely smile, and the atmosphere at the school is oppresive in a place where children are allowed to monitor each other all Lord of the Flies, like.
I came in from the road, so I know a lot about getting along with people. I worked on loading docks and in freezers all over my area and never had a problem getting along with anyone. Even my bosses agreed appreciateively when I told them what a good fit the job they had was for me because I got to work everywhere with so many different people. That all changed when I retired to become Stay At Home Parent.
What is up with women, these days? Have they truly bought the baggage they aren’t important? Why do they try to drag other women down, including their very own? All those women who I am related to are still alive. I’m out, black sheep, my own choice, but they are still doing their thing. Their mean mean thing. And one more question: what are a bunch of women in their mid-forties attempting to one up each other, for, anyway? From what I can see, none of them will be able to afford botox, either.
It’s good to know that I’m not imagining this, and when others reveal that they’re in this same boat, it’s further evidence that people who choose to keep to themselves after being burned too many times are not sick! We are, instead, best described by that quote, “It’s no sign of health to be well-adjusted to a sick society.’
You asked “What’s up with women these days?” and wondered if they bought into baggage about their lack of importance. Frankly, I believe you hit the nail on the head. A lot of women acting this way (and to be fair, I see it in the lesbian and bisexual communities too, just nowhere near as much because the competition over male providers is removed) likely believe, deep down, that they are no good, to a greater or lesser degree. Whether it’s physical, emotional, intellectual, career-related, or a personality thing, they have examined themselves against a cultural narrative outlining what good women do and don’t do, and what proper women are and aren’t like, and judged themselves wanting. They then proceed to take this out on others, especially other women.
This needs to end if we want a kinder, more empathetic society. To achieve this, I suggest for starters the media owners abolish those inane “women’s interest” sections of all magazines and newspapers, particularly those at Huffington Post and Slate, which are some of the most toxic. Re-framing news and entertainment as the province of people instead of men, with women relegated to a special, “other” section filled mainly with admonishments to change their very being in myriad ways would help tremendously with solving this issue. I also believe that people about to be parents should be able to take courses, for free, on raising children to love themselves in a healthy way. This is doubly important for couples who will be having daughters, as a large amount of internalized misogyny and toxic thinking is inculcated during girlhood by core family members.
What do you think about those ideas to start? Workable? Or too crazy to be implemented?
I totally agree with you that some women feel they are ‘not good’ and are constantly trying to use relationships within a group to prove their value to themselves. For the people caught in this loop, I think that’s the only reason for friendships. They’re constantly trying to associate themselves with more important people and simultaneously trying to compete with these very same friends. And they’re definitely teaching their daughters the same patterns. I have an old friend who is very anxious that her 4 year old be popular with the pretty girls in her class.
It’s so prevalent, that it makes it really tough on women who aren’t like this, and just want real friends they can know, and love, and count on. What a waste of time on earth together.
Alisha, you totally summed this up. This is probably one of the best explanations I’ve heard. I’m pretty much in the same boat….and I think a lot of this stuff comes from being victimized from women in the family. Think mean girls at school are bad? Try mean girls at home. My mother is a classic narcissist, and the emotional scars run deep. As an adult, I just decided I’m not gonna be the punching bag for anybody’s fragile ego, and unfortunately it seems to be a prerequisite for a lot of female friendships. Maybe when they evolve….
And your Mom’s MOM was probably the same way, so your Mom doesn’t know anything different.
Why are women so afraid of engaging? I think they dont want to make new friends and actually make the effort. That’s how I feel. Like you could have a lot in common with someone then they get scared of connecting to another person it’s quite weird lol. Not everyone is like that though so keep a keen eye out for someone who will make the effort and time getting to know you.
I am an only child that moved around a lot I’ve always been able to make friends. The kind of friends that I made was the kind that I had to support. I was always the friend that listened,helped just carried the bulk of the relationship. It’s hard for me to share my own personal struggle with people because of being so private. I like to keep it inside and take care of my issues alone. I’m also a giver not a taker. Although I’ve always been likeable I was a misfit too. I don’t fit in with most groups I don’t want to fit in either. Now I’m 31 getting married and I don’t have anyone for my wedding party besides my mother. I’m considering hiring a few ladies to partake in my big day. I don’t have any best friends or of people that I feel would represent me well at my wedding. The saying is that your circle of friends are a reflection of you.
Steph, your post really resonated with me: I have a brother, but he is much younger than me, and my family also moved around a lot when I was young (and for awhile, as an adult, I strangely continued that pattern, as unhappy as it made me when I was a child). Now that I am middle-aged, I can say securely that no other experience has so profoundly shaped my personality, and in ways that I still find strange (as in both weird and mysterious!). For a long time it was very easy for me to make friends – I think that’s something one learns to do when one is constantly uprooted. But it has proven more difficult for me to keep them. I don’t do ambivalence well – if someone hurts or annoys or angers me, it is easier (i.e., a habit) for me to just disappear – because that’s what literally happened for most of the first 20 years of my life. And since (to quote Jane Austen) I had to rely so much on my own resources, I too became a misfit – when one spends a lot of time alone, one tends to follow one’s own interests, regardless of what the locals like or dislike.
All that being written. I’m not sure what one’s circle of friends says about one – nor even if they do indeed say much. The “friendliest” person I know – who probably has a lot of friends – is a psychopath. Seriously – he doesn’t kill people (that I know of), but he is highly destructive and remorseless. But also funny and friendly. So what do his friends say about him? One of the things I have learned is that many friendships are based on convenience and self-interest – and that’s not necessarily bad, especially for all those extroverts out there. I don’t think there is anything wrong with people who have other things to do with their time, or who want something other than networking and help moving (or helping other people move) out of life. Given this, it seems to me that being private is the way to go. I used to open up a lot more often – and many’s the occasion when it came back to bite me. Sometimes it can also help – people often soften towards someone when they can feel sorry for one – but I don’t really want to cash in on my feelings or problems.
Finally, why spend money to have someone to stand up with you at your wedding? because it might look odd? Is there another solution? What about your finance’s family? Because it seems to me spending money on appearances is always a waste. Better to use that money for a downpayment on a house or a killer holiday or a new washer and dryer!
Not your finance’s family – the family of the person whom you will marry! Auto-correct is such a pain …
You nailed it. For me, I.have always been the one who always makes more effort in reaching out initiating. I always felt like I am being taking advantage of when it comes to friendship.
For example, while I was driving to school, A so called friend who never return my phone call or request to hangout calls me up asking if I can give his wife a ride to their apartment.
I tried to explain to him why I can’t. What the hell was I supposed to do.
I don’t know if this is why someone has trouble making friends. I haven’t moved around hardly at all and have trouble. I know people who have moved and moved and have a super easy time making friends.
I think it’s more “internal” than external circumstances as to why someone can’t connect well with others or chooses not to for various reasons.
I think it comes down to a lack of trust with women.
I am a women who just turned 70 ! I almost didn’t say how old I am because I feel that to many, it makes me an old fart! That has caused me to sometimes feel like I belong on a different planet…one where people don’t see age…I am still the somewhat goofy, fun loving, with it person I was when I was 20, 30′ etc. …yes I have more wisdom and have come to realize that life truly is short, allowing me to become much more patient …my kids who are in their forties invite my hubby and I when they get together with their friends…the friends insist we join them…that is great, but it isn’t the same as having a friend or two that I can relate to…I do also feel that I would like to have some things in common with a friend…not just age…my husband and I make birdhouse and feeders and attend craft shows …I wood burn and paint birds etc. on them…I love gardening, and love all animals…I foster animals when I can…
You sound like an amazing person! I’m in DC. Any chance you are in my part of the planet?
Hi Ursula,
You must be new to the blog. Welcome!
Just to remind everyone here that no exchanges of personal information or email addresses is permitted on this site to discourage both spammers and people who might take advantage of others.
If you do want to connect in real life, you will need to do so on sites specifically set up for that purpose. Also, I have set up a private group on Facebook (limited to women only) who can exchange information there: https://www.thefriendshipblog.com/something-new-check-out-friendship-blog-connection-facebook/
Thanks for your cooperation! Irene
I have no fear of engaging. Simply no desire. I have plenty of hobbies and reading materials that hold my interest far better than human beings could. And when I tire of those, there is always hours of great sex with my spouse to keep me entertained.
I’ve moved around a lot, too. Not used to making or keeping friends long term, so I try to enjoy them while they are around.
People come and go so quickly. But here in this small rural town, the women my age aren’t looking for friends. It surprised me to learn even in our mid-forties, many of us are not looking for friends and aren’t afraid to act like school children letting the new girl know she is only there to be their victim.
I never realized that not having female friends was an issue until recently, the thing is I never moved as a child but never had friends. I was that kid that got ignored that odd quiet child that no one payed attention to. As an adult it’s pretty much the same I’m just easily passed on unrecognizable to people. I want to be more social & have girls night out but I just can’t seem to know how to approach a girl without her thinking I’m creepy or gay. I admit that I don’t like being around alot of girls because I’m insecure of my looks, my communication skills and I don’t want them to think I’m needy & desperate for that female bond. I just wish it was easier to be friends with other girls, but I find that many are catty & picky like if I don’t fulfill a nitch in their social life I’m not worthy of their friendship. It’s sad going through breakups & celebrations without a good group of female friends to share that with.
Mayra-
Read your post, it really hit me because you said things I think, literally word for word. It’s like you read my mind!! : ) I don’t seem to fulfill any nitches with anyone either and also wish I had some good friends around to share fun (and not so fun) times with. I watch Friends and cry sometimes, even though it isn’t real. I replied because I just thought maybe if you knew there was someone feeling Just Like YOU out there- maybe it would help some small little tiny miniature bit….I feel a little better knowing I am not the only one feeling this way.
Ditto.
I had (have? She has a RL friend or two and a SO, and it is not the same, I feel like my friendship is a burden now) a best friend/surrogate sister for years, and some of them were tough years for her, and I’m glad her life is better, but I have no idea how we magically became friends, or how to connect with someone local, or anywhere.
I reallt feel like I make virtually no impact on people, and want that one friend to… just be friends with.
It’s so nice to hear someone else feels the way I do!
I was bullied a lot in high school so I guess now I am always self concious and find it hard to make friends. If I go to a party I always feel I hit it off with someone in a friendly way but then find it hard to make that into a friendship.
I also find so many girls are catty and I am totally not like that.
Why do girls bring people down in subtle ways? I don’t get it!
I just want to meet a group of girls who are kind, genuine supportive and not catty!
I’m 26 and I’m terrified that when I get married I won’t have any good enough friends to be in my bridal party…
I want friends and I feel I have some, but they aren’t good friends that I really connect with.
I’m an attractive woman in my 40s who is a fine artist. Always had problems making friends. I’ve given up and don’t give a sh#& anymore. I drive other people’s kids to sports and social events and hardly ever get the favor returned. I’m good at being lonely and used
I feel like you too. I’m almost 40, attractive, and kind have just thrown my hands up. I never am reciprocated as well. Either I know only extremely selfish people or I am truly unlikable. I’m a lowbrow artist. Maybe creative types struggle more. I have to put a reason behind it. My mother always told me as a teen that other people are intimidated by my height and looks but that might just have been her way of attempting to making me feel better. I’m not good at being lonely and used but I have no choice.
Wow, Heather We should Talk..
Im in my early 40’s and I feel the same. Im a very loyal, honest, outgoing, attractive person whom is passionate about life. I find myself giving WAY more then I ever get back. Often, I get my feelings hurt, bc seems Im a friend of convience. I end up in these friendships, that drama to my doorstep. I try and help others and it turns into a mess. I was the Black Sheep in my family, bc I was very academically sound but emotionally sensitive. The women in my family put me down, bc I was a husky built tomboy. Im estranged from my family. I make friends very easily, but end up getting used by my female friends. I have recently went through a huge change and just walked away from most of them. After evaluation, I realized they were never there when I needed them and were never happy for me, or if a new guy came along it might be weeks or months before hearing from them. Is it the age we’re at? I dont understand? It’s causing me to not trust and starting to transform into an introvert. I dont want society to make decisions on who I am! I spent the Holidays by myself this year. As an extrovert, I enjoy human involvement and I feel so confused as to why Im alone.
Amber, I could have written every word that you did, except that I am an introvert, not an extrovert. I am estranged from my family as well. I recently stepped away from “friends” who used me. I started dating my now boyfriend a year and a half ago after a divorce and my friends who were barely there to begin with, disappeared completely when he came in the picture. They had no desire to meet and get to know this person who is a big part of my life. I don’t know if it’s jealousy or what, but it was very painful to experience this treatment after being there for these friends. I honestly don’t like the feeling of not having friends, but other than that, I am in a healthier place without these friendships. All of the effort I put in to never have reciprocated left me with nothing to lose and my time/energy/sanity to gain.
I am an artist also and i do think that creative types have a bit harder time engaging–I often find myself daydreaming while looking off into the trees or something I find beautiful while trying to be sociable. I just dont have the ability to make lively conversation with most people.
This is my first time on this website and was feeling bad about myself this morning and feel better now in coming to the conclusion that many women have trouble making and keeping friends. I think everyone blames themselves they are too attractive or not attractive enough. They are artistic or considered weird. I am 59 years old and have followed every road to find lasting friendships and have not been successful. My parents had a much larger circle of friends that I have had. I have gone home from gatherings thinking I talked too little, too much. Showed off too much, put myself down too much etc. etc. I have three “close” friends that call when they need someone to listen to all the fun they have had places they have gone with other friends. I even have a fair weather sister. (I might add I have done much more for her than she has ever done for me) Actually my latest attempt at friendship was inviting “friends” to my daughter’s wedding. Some of them attended, some declined. These same people (some not all) have had weddings for their children since and have not returned the invitations. I have come to the conclusion that they came to be nosey or “polite.” By the way the same thing happened to my daughter, who by the way has a completely different personality than me. She is artistic and outgoing. My husband and son’s have better relationships overall than my daughter and I do. A lot of women chalk it up to jealousy, but I see there are some very attractive and vivacious women that other women seek friendship with. I refuse to let this get to me, just keep on going. go if I get invited, keep myself busy if I don’t. I really do believe many of these “popular women” really don’t have anything positive to offer to a group and birds of a feather flock together. these kind of people are good at setting social calendars, good at small talk and have many circles they travel in. (really care about no one but themselves) Also if you can do something for somebody and they can use you. You will certainly be their friend that day. The qualities I see in most of these posts are sincerity and honesty and self reflection and I think unfortunately that is not the way to make friends. Lastly I think truly nice, caring people scare all these jerks! Don’t give up, keep trying there has to be nice people out there they are just hard to find.
Not to single out any one person, but am I the only person that thinks it’s strange that a number of people, (not just in this post) list their attractiveness as a top quality for friendship? Is this an important criteria for adult friendship?
Clara, no, I certainly don’t think attractiveness is a top reason for friendship. Loyalty and common values and interests are more important. I hate the snarky, jealous, competitive qualities most women seem to ooze. I’m not that woman because I am sweet and happy for the good things that happen to my friends….. No matter what we do, some is always going to judge us.
Gosh I hope not, the 1st thing I usually am drawn to is sence of humor, I can chat and laugh with new meets on that superficial level, I just don’t know how to move it along or am missing the next key ingredient for moving it along. It usually ends with me thinking “she was nice wish I knew her better” .
Mayra,
I totally understand where you’re coming from. That’s exactly how I grew up….I’m 53 and never felt so alone without any friends, it’s horrible. My kids are grown and have their own lives while I sit home bored and lonely.
I moved around every 2-3 years growing up and never felt a sense of stability with a group of friends until I was in my 30s. Then of course I got married and moved again, divorced, moved again. I am in my late now 40s with no children so very often I don’t have that to chat about in the same way another mom might, but I think the key is, if I may be blunt, shut up and listen. Ask questions. I know we’re all dying to talk about ourselves but that will come with time, and it’s much more fun when people are surprised by the fact that you have fascinating facts to share later on. I was born in Ireland, grew up in Canada, live in DC now. I suppose I’m interesting (to myself), but the best way to gain a friend is to be one. If someone has kids and you hate kids, I can assure you that they sometimes feel like (figuratively, to be clear) strangling their kids. Ask them about their morning and see what you get. I once knew a mom who literally threw her daughter’s curling iron out the window one morning before school. We were absolutely crying laughing about something she was completely furious over. So, you might find something worth a laugh and you can build slowly from there. If things seem really stressful, offer to lend an ear over a glass of wine. If you listen, they will follow suit and listen to you, and voila! Friends!
^^^This. It’s good advice.
I used to have a whole group of friends all throughout HS & college. Then one day after I came back from abroad i find out that my boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend at the time. It was a real slap in the face and it took a very long time to heal. I had to cut off from thaf friends group anyway because they were all messed up and cheating on their spouses and I didn’t want to get wrapped up in that. My ex was very weak minded yet he hooked me into paying his car insurance lol. That was 4 years ago today when I dumped him on New Years. Personally, my best friend is my mom and my lover and my dog. Now I’m looking to make friends again but it is really hard everyone is so self absorbed and not helpful or nice. I always try to make an effort with people whom I like but they claim they are too busy with their little life so it’s very off putting to me. Like they cant spare am hour and have coffee with me and are too busy playing those dumb fruit games on their phones. Its appauling how society has become. I guess I’ll wait until I finally dont care anymore about having friends and some lucky idiot will get off their phone and talk with me! Lol always when you least expect it. Well good luck everyone!
Smartphones are they really as smart as they are? The advertising in the media will sell you on that idea. I’m sure in the business world it has great benefits (because I had one already in 1986 but they where just phones). But for socializing it certainly has its downside. Some will eat, walk and sleep with their smartphones which is certainly true for the younger generations. Yes we need instant communication with one another and when we don’t socialize with someone through the smartphone media we are board and we play games…….mostly alone. Instant communication? When someone doesn’t answer directly people are worried what is happening; are they mad; did something happen to them etc. It tricks our emotions. Some even get mad because you didn’t instant answer them. Yes my daughter said Dad you need a smartphone so she got me one and the old flip-flop phone got put to rest. The flip-flop I found handy only for emergencies and the add call I had to made. Through all that fast media people have no time for socializing anymore, Everybody is demanding something from someone; the employers, friends, family yes someone. When there was no instant communication people had time for socializing because we were not occupied by this medium. We where not held captive by that media.
With texting a misspelled word can create a great drama as it can be with chatting. Yeah I’m glad the thing has a battery so it dies once and awhile on me………..it is then quiet like it use to be, and I have time to say hello to my neighbor or the person I meet on the street. I rather have a good conversation with someone in person (at least you know if they are sincere)than texting and who knows the expressions on the other side? It is like anything else in the communication world they all have their good and bad side.
So in 2016 lets socialize a bit more, take a load of your shoulder and live a bit more, yes laugh a lot and love one another in reality………..
I agree 100%. To be so “connected”, yet we are so disconnected.
I completely agree with you. I’m about to turn 35 and have in the past couple of years done anything and everything I could think of to make friends, while avoiding being pushy or needy. I would invite people to go do something fun and they’ll either agree only to flake the last minute or they’ll say they’re busy only to see them trolling facebook.
I’m also single at the moment and let’s not even talk about dating these days. When they start making shows to portray just how awful the whole experience can be, you know we’re all doomed.
It’s ridiculous. While it can be very discouraging and difficult to stay positive, I fight the pessimist daily as I hope one day people will unplug from all the crap we seem to stuff our lives with.
I totally agree with you (agreed) everyone is just so self absorbed and into their own busy schedule that it so had to genuinely make friends and connect. And top of that is antisocial media that compounding the whole problem. It is no wonder dating has become so irrelevant. Trust me
I was always the nerdy misfit. Now I’m 31 and though the loneliness is crushing at times I stopped trying to look for friends male or female. It seems everyone I meet are selfish idiotic unthinking zombies and it seems every one around me got or wants kids (which I hate).
I used to be a nice caring person but years of bullying and abuse I have decided to just not bother anymore. It seems folks take nice for weakness and they to use or walk over you then get upset when you call them out. It would be cool to have at least one friend who listens don’t make fun of you and you can hang with and chat about stuff without worrying about boring someone. but that’s just a dream and folks like that don’t exist.
I will probably never have friends and just have to put up with it … no matter where I move I don’t fit in.
If you can be that person for someone else, maybe you’ll find the right person who can do it back. A lot of people crave that very thing.
I agree with Anon.
Kau, you said it; I was always the nerdy misfit. So do something about it. All the others can’t be wrong, I would do some self soul searching which might change your attitude……..Good luck in 2016
I find it hard too. It is hard after youth passes, I think. I don’t want alot of the women out there for friends, frankly. Lots of downbeat self-pitying talk, too much nasty gossip and a follow the leader attitude. They aren’t fun and they are probably not too trustworthy. Maybe you are fussy.
I feel for you. But hating kids is a problem, because people will pick up on that — if you are not already outspoken about hating kids — and even if it’s not just their kid (“hey, don’t take it personally, I hate ALL kids”), your hatred of their kid will mean they have to keep that part of their lives from you. And that is a barrier to friendship intimacy.
Don’t give up looking. There are people like you that don’t like children and that are like you in other ways. It does hurt to be rejected, even if only remotely (like “ghosted”), but hey it’s their loss.
You are right but try thinking of these people as missing something that is important to being a human being. Therefore they have the weakness. Try to ignore these flaws and just accept them as they are! There are very few people who don’t have flaws.
Well women that are very Dysfunctional would certainly have a lot of trouble.
Seriously, isn’t this true for men also? There are many deadbeats men and women who do not want to commit anymore, many men/women out there are just in for the sex. Then they dump them and find a next vulnerable one. To many selfish souls………..ah well we’ll see what 2016 brings.
Because many of them want to be in control of everything.
This is a really interesting page of comments!
Do you all feel like quite self-sufficient people? You all seem that way, either through wisdom, or calm, or learning to cope on your own and be your own rock through hard necessity.
I ask because I notice that some women seem to need a lot more from their friends than others. Long phone calls make my attention drift and my ears sweat, but many seem to need them several times a week, for example.
I am vaguely part of a very large group of friends that goes back a couple of decades, but I feel I am sitting on the periphery of it, looking in. I get invited to parties where everyone’s invited, but not smaller gatherings. I am never anyone’s bridesmaid, nor matron of honour. I’m an extra when a party needs a crowd scene. However, the occasional individual will seek me out and come round for a quiet cup of tea. I am that friend. But I am never part of that gang of half-a-dozen that gets rallied for a fun night out.
Sometimes it gets to me, the sense of being excluded. I get down about it occasionally, and ask myself what I’m doing wrong, not to be invited here, or to be left out over there. And then I remember that I don’t find most people all that interesting. I find most people exhausting. I don’t want to ‘fit in’ for the sake of it: I prefer genuinely interesting, stimulating time with one or two sparky, trusted people.
Female friendships appear to work best when there are equal needs on both sides. If you are self-sufficient, you need, and seek, less comfort from your friends. I feel I am forever watching humans around me form instant and lasting friendships in the time it takes to blink, and I wonder, what do they do? What do they say to each other? Is part of my brain missing? Then I realise that I never talk to people about my feelings, but the thing is, I don’t need to.
The few individual, true female friends I have are very self-sufficient, too. One is very self-assured and confident and needs nothing from anyone except company for the odd afternoon; one is very shy, and kind-hearted, and hates to ask for help, so it is a pleasure to offer it. One is just insanely busy and needs a break at my kitchen table now and then, and one is just really happily introverted and only pops up every few years. I think a good friendship will have a truly balanced dynamic: if you have complementary emotional needs and expectations, with equal give-and-take, it will work. I find this to be just as important, perhaps more so, as shared interests or hobbies.
Do remember – anyone struggling, and feeling alone – that your people are out there. You have to wade through a lot of not-your-people to find them, which is exhausting, and if you are self-sufficient, it is hard to find others like you, because those who need the most from others make the most noise. While you are wading through not-your-people, please don’t mistake your incompatibility with them for a sign of failure on your part. It truly isn’t.
I do feel that lots of people who have commented here would get on very well together. 🙂
Hi Lori
I’m very similar to you and have over many years experienced the same issues / problems.
I had a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome and that answered many of my questions.
I find society on the whole uses certain words loosely, like ‘we’re friends’, when most times the majority do not really know how to maintain a real friendship. Many of the women I know will only remember me when they see me or when I text them to see how they are.
Their idea of ‘working’ at a relationship is for them to do all of their important things and any spare time they have left, they see if they can fit you in.
I know what drains me and it’s all the small talk and where they take from me and don’t give anything worthwhile back.
I used to focus on do various things before, then they made out that I should do things their way. I realised the hard way they only knew the talk, not the walk. Most do not even realise they do this as its an automatic learned behaviour.
Their ‘working at it’ is speaking ie “We should meet up for [fill in the blank]. Then you do all the work and they turn around and say how thoughtful and kind you are.
Now I choose to look after #1! Me, myself and I. Filling my time with things important to me, then I can genuinely say “I’m busy!” or have other plans and I cannot make whatever they plan.
Thanks for this post, its really insightful and I will have to save it for future reading! Its good to know there are more of us out there. 🙂
I liked the article, and it applies– military brat and natural introvert. But.. I’ve actually always had a difficult time making friends. I’m in a course right now with social butterflies (yes, I’m misplaced, long story of torturing myself and it’s for a job), more than 20 women and 3 gay men, and not one really wants to be friends with me. I usually find at least one friend, but after 3 weeks, I not one. More than half seem to enjoy talking to me when I stand next to them but not beyond that. I was taking it really personally– and who wouldn’t– I must be “off.” About a week ago, I started being a little nicer to myself, it’s been a rough life. No family connection, can’t maintain a relationship (my choice, I’ve been broken up with exactly zero times). I’m proud, independent and lonely. Grateful for the few women I meet and connect with. Wish others were more open! Someone mentioned a struggle to continue with life this way, and it’s so true. My own grandmother died alone, and I feel I’m headed that way, too. :/
Oh please don’t think that way there is always hope
Hi ladies, first off I want to say WOW, this forum is amazing! It is comforting to know how many women feel similar to how I have/do. There are so many of us commenting!
A little about myself:
So I grew up being cut from a different cloth, right from the get go. My parents wanted two children only, and took action to achieve that, but they got three (I’m going to try to keep this short as I can I swear).
I was always different from the norm. I found enjoyment in weird activities, and always took a long time to grow out of things, even to this day. I also was highly introverted and would keep to myself more than make an effort to hang out with other kids. My own family ostracized and isolated me because I was different than my other two siblings. My father got so irritated with me at one point that he would refer to me as, ‘the other one.’ Also, I think because they only wanted two kids, subconsciously, I believe my parents rejected my overall presence, (whatever their reasons were) and so I grew up highly neglected and misunderstood, and very troubled. Today, this is what’s called NCS in Psychology, which does cross over into adulthood. I won’t go too much more into detail about this as I believe what ever was cannot be changed, I live to grow, as that is what Everyone is meant to do everyday, Grow!
I wanted to say, for those who feel bitter/jaded by others judging/bullying you, I’ve been there. I have felt what it is like to be stomped on so much that you get to the point of CRAZY lol and lash out at anyone who tried to talk to you. Think of a cat clawing at your feet! Or to experience that look from others, as if you are an alien (for some reason, that one got to me the most). I also can relate to those who have felt like they have been cold and naked in the dark. Or perhaps screaming inside and no one can hear you.
BBTW For Irene specifically: This is a fantastic blog, good job!
Where I am heading towards presently:
Still introverted, still weird (I like to think in a good way) lol. Still that little girl who never grows up, trying to find herself-find harmony. Ladies there is so much opportunity available given the godliness of the internet that everyone has yet to discover. Lately I have been doing a lot of reading on different perspectives, ways of thinking, as well as different ways of living. The surface has just been scratched, but the more I wonder, the more fascinated I become with the amount of diversity available, and readily accessible. There is no better time in history than now, from my point of view, to find who you are. Life is beautiful!
To finish off my thought, I will leave you all with a message someone I know always beaming with positivity, has said:
“Don’t allow the memory of the past or the uncertainty of the future to stop you from loving right NOW.” -Miranda
Nadine, I really like your message. 🙂
Hoo boy. I have sooooo much in common with you. 🙁 You’re my simpatico sister.
Really Love your Message!!!!
Hi Lori, Lorraine and Jenny,
I found your comments interesting, because my best friend sounds like she may have a similar mindset. It seems you are independent and self-sufficient and, unlike other people, don’t seem to ‘need’ as much emotionally from your friends, and prefer to make friends with people with a similar relational style.
I suppose I am the opposite, in some respects. I am introverted, and ultimately prefer my own company. However, I long for deep, meaningful friendships. I just don’t know how to obtain that, and as much as my best friend –(long-distance and mostly online) –and I hold each other in high regard, I often feel as though she ‘needs’ me less than I need her, if that makes sense. Or, there is a part of her that is closed off (from being hurt in the past by others) to intimacy. By contrast, I am an open book emotionally.
It makes me wonder if people shy away from being my friend because they sense my neediness for wanting to really know them, and also want to share a lot about myself. People like my best friend have told me that she is more inclined to share with me if she feels I need her less.
Is this just introverted behavior, or is it also avoidant? I’m trying to understand our differences. She says she doesn’t understand the need to ‘trade intimacies’ with friends, as there are certain things she just isn’t comfortable sharing, and tells me I am looking for another ‘open book’ type of person like myself. She tells me, ‘If I keep you in my life, know that you have a place in it.’
Meanwhile, she tends to dominate the conversations we do have (mainly about herself and her interests) and I feel less inclined to share, because I don’t know when I’m crossing that needy line, or making her uncomfortable. She doesn’t seem aware or bothered that I have cut down on sharing my thoughts with her.
I find it tricky to navigate different friendship styles.
Im an open book, too. And, its just who I am. Like you, Im afraid of being needy. But, with me .. Its all or nothing. I am a giver whom seems to attract takers and ppl whom are self absorbed.
I am an Indian woman, doing job. I was working in a software testing project where there was a team of 4 girls, including me. I tried to be friendly with all of them, however all of them were hostile to me. I thought I should give them some time to understand me, so irrespective of their hostility I continued to be good to them. However, nothing changed even after 2 years. That has left such a bad feeling with me. I am now working on another project. As I read in an article, I always try to think about good people, expect positive things to happen and keep myself persistent in thinking that I am going to have many good friend. However at times, I really feel sad that despite of my try for so long, I haven’t been able to make friends. I have a very close friend(girl) thankfully….but with such a good nature I have(helpful, being happy for others success) I wish I should have many friends.
hello everyone,
Wish there were an answer. I am a man, write music and poetry. Now trying to get a television show going I created. I love gatherings of people.
I love deep talks, finding out why you value what you value. I am kind and caring, it is my true nature. It is my experience that fewer people are interested in anything but their own needs. I think about others often during the day. I returned from Louisiana recently and felt like I was in heaven. Most people looked into my eyes and talked with me, women held me and kissed me.
Back in California now is like walking in an emotional
desert.
I have various interests, photography, cooking, behavior, conversation, history, cultures.
Except for my soul love, ( she is beyond dreams )
I have no friends. Peiple that are suspicious repulse me, since friendship requires being present to know one another. So I try to cope with all my love going nowhere, except for my love. We love one another sacredly, but dear friends out there I have never met remember, we did not create the people who choose indifference or apathy, we must self renew from within
and find ways to see beauty absent others. It would not be my choice, being without friends, it would be wonderful if WE all could gather and nurture each other.
American people have changed since Carole King’s song, “You’ve Got a Friend. ” I live near her and often wonder why people choose distance over closeness.
May love surround you…..
I agree that location makes a big difference. I am from the Midwest and people were more trusting there and there was much more diversity. I have found it is very difficult to make close friends in the Denver area!! Not sure why — many people — the young ones — 30’s and 40’s particularly — are very COMPETITIVE here, financially, physically, etc., maybe that’s why? Many transplants too –without much family. And I also think people move here to “get away” from family! A woman I met (from the South) I was talking to said people here look at her like she’s an annoyance if she tries to talk to a stranger
Hi Lynn,
I’m from the Midwest, too, and have been living in the South for 25 years. About the woman you met from the South–I find it interesting as people here look at me like an annoyance even after all this time!
It’s difficult to live in an area that doesn’t accept you since you’re not native. I’m never asked as a woman what my work is…just “Who are my people?”, “How many children do I have”, and “What church do I go to?” Once I say I’m not originally from here, have no children, and do not belong to a church, people turn around and walk away. It has been very lonely, yet I have to live here right now.
It was to read “Hi Marianne”.
I’m not a church-goer myself. I think the key is to join things that you have in common with others. I am looking into some volunteer opportunities right now that I’ve always wanted to do. I think when people just “try to make random friends,” if there is nothing in common they share that binds them, the friendships don’t really last. So, maybe I just answered my own problem.
I have no children, never wanted them. I’ve found that repels people too. It’s lowered even further my estimation of people-kind.
It’s funny…I used to think it was ME that caused people not to want to be my friend. Then I happened on a woman who had treated me horribly in college. She wanted to make amends and she asked if I’d accept her apology. I said yes if she would tell me WHY she (and others) didn’t want to be my friend years ago. She said it was because they were jealous of me. They saw my nice home, loving parents, CR (though it was a beater it was mine), the fact that I wore pretty clothes (I sewed), had the leads in players, musicals and that I was trim and petite. To be blunt…they hated the fact that I had (or was) at least one thing they weren’t. It shocked me to hear this as I never thought of myself as special…in fact I thought I was plain, ordinary and sort of “out of style”. If this woman was being honest then maybe the rest of you might want to look at yourself through their eyes…were you smart? Did you get along with adults? Did you have beautiful hair? Was your skin clear? Did you have a fun job? A nice family or house? A nice boyfriend? Did you succeed in something they saw as a threat? If you can answer yes to any of these things then quit beating yourself up….it wasn’t you, it was them. You were just fine all along! Take a deep breath. I’m going to begin living now, I suggest you do so too!
Marianne , you are so right. I also live in Denver and it is almost impossible to find “good” friends here! I’m originally from a different country, And moved here 10 years ago and I STILL feel like an outsider. Over the last 5 years I’ve had a ton party friends and -what I thought – so called -best friends. The relationships with all of them have ended rather abruptly! Three of my old best friends ended up losing their mind while under the influence of alcohol or just going through hard time in life and verbally or even physically have attacked me. All I’ve done was be a good friend to them, whenever they were in need I was there for them. I can’t help but feel like I’m always attracting insecure women , that either want to compete, or all together lose their sh$t one day and never speak to me again. These women who have been my “friends” for years, not just a month or two. I’m not sure if it’s the area or whatever , but I’m seriously considering moving out of the state or even a country.. partially due to this. I place lots of emphasis on friendships and they are very important to me , more so than intimate relationships with opposite sex. Maybe , that is my problem. I’m not sure.
I, also, have my husband to whom I am a very close friend and with whom I have a great time. We laugh alot. We have five kids, out of town but fairly close – we all get along. Other than that, nada! It’s hostile out there. At my age, more than 60, I am looking for courtesy and some basic civility I lost reputation, early friendships and all family members when younger due to a psychopath in my family who held the central position. I was unable to replace them or to feel relaxed enough to trust people again.I have wandered to other cities and states to live and we enjoyed these things immensely. Like you, I write-fictiion in my case. Who knows? Part of it is me, I know. I enjoy people and parties, but don’t like the petty or infighting side of what passes for socializing.Just being polite and giving a smile to people is very nice! Why not? Keep it superficial and friendly.
In a ditch ?
I often come back to this website to reassure myself that I am not alone in this frustrating friendship business. One year ago I joined a women’s club in a northern California suburb.It is very typical of the women’s clubs here as they are all made up of small cliques of women that don’t accept any new people into their circle. Dispite doing all the “right things” (don’t have bad breath, make certain I’m friendly and cooperative, keep my conversations similar to their, as well as my appearance), I’ve made certain I “fit in” but still only one or two women bother to say hello and have a conversation. What is the secret to being accepted????
Francesca,
OMG I am also living in Northern California! *Waves* and you are so right! I moved here about 9 years ago and it is almost impossible to be accepted by any of the women’s groups (cliques)here…unless you were born and raised here. They will be polite and all but never more, I have tried everything so I totally feel for ya 🙁 If there is a right way to make friends here I have no idea what it is lol! And so got myself a little chihuahua and continue to do community events and hope, good luck to you.
Francesca, If you find out, bottle it! You will make a million. My observation: people go for the lowest common denominator. They may want to feel a bit snobbish toward those they superficially appear to follow. I know a falling down alcoholic who is mean, outrageous and has multiple sex partners – the other women in her group idolize her – they don’t live that way! Why don’t you try picking your nose?
Heidi, the alcoholic creates lots of gossip and laughs for others. We all want excitement in our lives otherwise things get dull.
I find it hard to make relationships with people because they dont always get on with m
i dont like it when i get bullied
Bryony Allen explain how you get bullied by others is there any reason? Best is to speak up about bullying so it can be stopped.
Late answering, Country Boy, but a low class alcoholic woman who is mean, treacherous and vicious gossip is not my idea of fun. If it is yours, we are different people. Guess the herd likes to run other people down for laughs. But, I believe the saying that small people talk about other people – and by that, I mean, really scrutinize and shred others.
Hi Archana,
Reading your post, I felt sad. You sound like a really kind person, and you’re staying positive despite you’re lack of inclusion, speaks a lot of you. I have trouble doing that. I’ve been in a “new” town now for 3 and a half years. I’m friendly, outgoing, helpful, etc, and yet—I seem unable to move past the surface with people here. I don’t know what it is, or if it’s even me. A lot of people like to say, “You get back what you project,” as if it must be something you’re doing to turn people off, but I find that the “friendliness” of a place is often a matter of regional culture. I moved from the States to Canada, which, culturally speaking doesn’t appear on the surface as being to different, but coming from the States to BC, boy…I find people much harder to get to know up here. I also find that many people in the smaller BC towns, are standoffish and seem suspicious of people who are too open.
It’s really hard when we don’t feel understood, or when you feel like you’re outside looking in. I’ve been feeling that way up here for years. I truly hope things get better for you. 🙂
I just wanted to say that I am very glad that I found this blog, and this post in particular. I was actually looking online for advice about how to get over a friendship that ended, and happily stumbled across this blog and this post. Like many of the people posting here, I am a real introvert; I spent most of my childhood moving, and since I live in the US, sometimes I feel like a loser oddball (seriously – is it just me, or does a lot of the psychology reporting in the US suggest that if one is not out socializing multiple times per week, one will end up depressed, demented, and dead in an apartment surrounded by old newspapers with cats eating one’s eyeballs?). My “problem” (and I’m not sure it is a problem): I have a couple of good friends, and I am close to family members, but they all love 2000 miles away! And I find that I do better that way … I need lots of distance in order to maintain friendships. Getting together with someone once a month would be too much for me. I also have a very time-consuming job in a very dysfunctional office, so pursuing friendships with co-workers is out (in fact, I have slowly disengaged from social relations with colleagues). I have always been introverted, but it has become “worse” in the past few years, especially after some serious issues occurred at work, and a family member was diagnosed with a serious illness. I just became a lot less interested in boring, shallow chit-chat (usually about work issues), and a lot less interested in discussing my personal life with the people I worked with. I don’t know if I will ever return to my more extroverted self – sometimes I can’t recognize my younger self. In fact, I think I used to rely on alcohol in order to make that extroverted self appear – and since I can’t drink anymore, the introversion has won out!
Hi, I believe you’ll want to know what I have to say to all of you dear women. But first, just look at who I am. You will be surprise.
I’m an extroverted young women. I’m 22 and with the same wonderful guy for 4 years now. At school I’m often at the top, my academics skills are great and I won many prizes (maths, sciences, etc.). I don’t really have a hard time finding a job since I know how to present myself pretty well. I think I’m beautiful, even if sometimes I don’t feel like it. I have an excellent relationship with my mother (my only family) even if it was not always like that in the past. I know I am an interesting person, I have great imagination and I’m not scared to talk about whatever is on my mind. I also know that I can listen to others well, be supportive and happy when someone has success in whatever is it that he/she is doing. I am a social person, I like to meet people and I love inviting people at home to cook them a meal. I look strong, sure of myself and I express myself very clearly.
My problem is, I don’t have any friends. Not almost, not a little one in case I need someone, NO ONE. And God knows I am really trying hard to get some. You see, what I said earlier about me, even if it’s true, it doesn’t please anybody. Especially other women. You could easily say that is because I’m imbued with myself. That I believe that I’m perfect and that is why nobody wants to be with me.
But here’s the thing: I am not confident about myself. I always think (and not so quietly) that I am not enough, that what I’m doing is not good enough, that I should be more like this or more like that. I am never satisfied with myself, always believing that I am not worthy of anything and anyone. I feel so often stupid that I don’t even understand why some people can be jealous of me. It’s a complete non sense to me.
Every single time I met a girl, I try to be supportive, to listen to her, make her feel right, to do the absolute opposite of what other girls did to me. When I am trying to get a friend, it is for the purpose of being a friend. I want something real, not something that you throw away when you simply feel like it. I never pretend being happy to see someone when it is not the case.
Yet, every single girl friend I tried to have just spit on me like I was garbage. They lied to me, tried to makes me look like a fool in front of other people, used me. At the start I always thought they would be good to me, that they appreciated me, because that is what I wanted to be for them. It was always a friendship that was not in a group of person. Just her and me.
At the end, the same thing always happen: they try to make me feel that our friendship was only in my head. They change. Radically. One day they tell me I’m a good friend to them, we go out, they come to my home, respond very quickly at their phone when I talk to them, we talk about our emotions, they are happy to help me if I need explications for an homework or something like that. And the other day they stop answering my texts, they say I misunderstood them when they actually invited me somewhere, they suddenly don’t remember my invitation that they still accepted like one day ago, they tell me they prefer keeping for them whatever thing that make them feel sad, they now don’t have any time to help me with any homework they told me they will help me with…
I always thought it was my fault.
That it was surely something I did, something I said.
That they change towards me because I should have been more cautious towards them.
Those girls, they never said to me what is it that I have done to them to make them change like that. There has never been a big story, like something about our boyfriend, or I don’t know whatever gossip story. Nothing. One day I see in their eyes they are happy to see me, the other I see that I’m the last person they want to see. And there is no turning back. Even if I try to stick with them and forgive, they just continue to lie and disrespect me.
After a long, long, long period trying to figure out what I did that make them like that, I realized that I wasn’t asking myself the right question. Those girls didn’t act like that because of me. They did that because that is who they are. You know, if I don’t like you, I don’t talk to you. I don’t start lying. So, what’s the point in forgiving? I have nothing to forgive them, because the way they are do not concerns me. It’s sad, in a way I would have prefer to be able to do something about it. But since I understand that lying and pretending were things they were actually choosing to do, I also did my choices.
Maybe they were jealous of me because I didn’t let them know enough how vulnerable I can be.
That whatever success they believe I had, I don’t always feel like it is really mine. I am not different from them in how I feel. But I will certainly be different from them in how I react to those feelings.
I know I’m not perfect, but dear God, I believe I should start to love myself anyway and feeling that I am enough, for real. I am SICK of feeling ashamed, SICK of feeling that I should hide my success, SICK of feeling that anybody has better reason than me to be happy.
And I don’t know what is the problem of those girls who don’t want to be honest and respectful towards me, but screw them. If I have only one mistake to admit, is that I don’t love myself enough. Maybe if I respect me more, others will do the same. I don’t know if it will really works, but I will sure try. Of course I would love to have some real girl friends, but not at the price of disrespect. I prefer to be alone than fooling myself. It is not my fault if those girls are jealous of me, they just had to do something great with their life! I am confident that one day I will be able to have at least one real girl friend and hell I will be proud. In the meantime, I’ll just try to prepare myself for that day. I am worthy, and I’m sure we are all. We just have to be better to ourselves.
Kathy,
As a fifty plus year old I can tell you that you are not the problem. You sound like someone who has (or had hopefully these people who hurt you did’t ruin it) healthy self esteem. And you have looks on top of it. You’re above them maturity and wisdom wise and they know that. Instead of appreciating that they want to bring you down because they recognize they dont measure up, even though you would gladly share what you have and they dont with them and be humble enough to recognize the good in them that they don’t. It’s lonely being good sometimes dont’ let them destroy your goodness and self esteem. I didn’t and still suffer.
Same here…. Thought I was alone in this one.
I’ve given up on making friends. All my adult life has been one of not feeling included and not being able to share friends with other people. Don’t know what I’ve done wrong but am thankful for my husband and daughter who I hope will take care of me in my old age. Sounds like Ill die an early death anyway since I have no close friends.
Yeah it is hard to be good, but be good because it’s good to be good. If you believe in universe, souls and after life… what will be remembered is always the good your consciousness participated in… and it will reward your true self.
Hi, I can understand, it is quite probable that those girls are just jealous of you. My whole life I felt quite the opposite, I grew up being the fat kid in the class, and the only girls who would befriend me were the ones who had no other choices but me, and I often felt like they did not really appreciate me even though I honestly felt I could be a good friend to them. Either that, or I would befriend girls who took a superior attitude towards me and I felt they used me to feel more important.
When I lost weight at the age of 15, the two girls I was friends with started taking a colder attitude towards me and one of them actually told me years later, after I gained weight again, that she felt threatened by me when I got thinner. So I honestly think the sad thing is this society pits women against one another because women are valued mainly due to how attractive they are and not personality or spiritual values, like courage, loyalty, honesty and all that.
Most of my life actually I felt women who are honest and decent are treated like suckers by most women, since most women are taught they have to be conniving and manipulative in order to be successful.
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Wow, I really connected with your post. I wish I could run into people like you in real life, because you seem really interested in building friendships.
I’ve moved more times than I can count in my life, and my parents never talked to me and my siblings about the move. It was just, “pack your stuff!” in a rather unconscientious way. I’ve always had difficulty making friends, however. I was told I was very adorable growing up, and was called beautiful as I grew older, but I found this didn’t help me earn friends at all (not that I hoped it would). I didn’t dress to impress, I remained myself, I was very shy and thoughtful, I thought deeply, and I always cared enough about others feelings to somehow always avoid conflict. I also don’t show my unhappiness to other people. Not because it doesn’t exist, but because I don’t want to bring them, or myself, down. I can only get by with determination when I keep myself happy as much as possible. I guess it might have to do with my parent’s rule on not crying when I was growing up, though. I was yelled at if I pouted or acted sad, so maybe I kept that discipline as an adult?
I try talking to other woman, such when I’d excitedly talk about something we seem to both be interested in, but they’d usually give me this disorientated look and walk away. It confuses me. When women, especially friends, are together, and so are more brave and honest, they clearly ignore what I say and avoid looking at me. Men only occasionally do this if they seem to be having a “macho” moment of appearing as intelligent and capable as they can be, but even then they’re not that bad. When women do this, it sometimes comes of as a complete lack of respect and obvious disdain for me. It does make me sad and also a little disappointed. I’ve always been kind and tried to be thoughtful towards them. People say I appear intelligent, so I wouldn’t think it’d have to do with that. It comes of as shallow, to be honest. After getting to know some of these women, it seems their interests are more for show than any real interest, sadly. For example, some women go to the same gym because their friends go there, despite what they say, or some women attend a class because their crush is there, and so on.
It’s also probably my fault. I’m a person deeply interested in the world and other people, and also to do things I’ve wanted to do, but it seems most people, especially women, aren’t. My interest in the world never seems to fade, no matter how many punches it takes. Many women just don’t seem to like to look past the small things in their daily lives. I’m always thinking about my general purpose in life and my big dreams, which may seem strange to some women?
After thinking about it for a while, I wonder if most women don’t actually want friendships, but it develops while they look for other women to “use.” Someone to complain to, a guy to receive special attention from, a woman who’s rich or popular in order to build their own popularity, someone to gossip with, etc. I don’t have those things to offer, and if I do, I don’t show them. I avoid gossip, because I think it’s wrong, for example. I have strong moral values as well. I try to gain friendships by kindness and showing my own interests, but that doesn’t go far for me.
Then again, I’ve gotten so scared of making friendships with women that I’ve begun avoiding them unconsciously, such as my mind going blank when making conversation, or acting overly nervous around a women who seems interested in getting to know me.
I’ve met woman who seemed interested in friendship, only to try to drop me in a purposely emotionally hurtful way. I’ve gotten so used to sensing this that I’m not hurt when this happens, but focus my energy back on myself and my own life, in order for the woman to not take any sick pleasure in any hurt.
I could never emotionally hurt someone for my own enjoyment unless they were one of the most awful people in the world, so it makes me wonder how most women see other women.
Growing up, I was usually okay with making friends with someone if we were one on one, but once they got with a group, they acted in this herd manner that immediately stood out to me the first time I saw it. Even from a young age, I automatically noticed how different people acted in a crowd, and I didn’t like it at all. I even began avoiding being in a large group of friends if I could help it, and suddenly being with many other people made all the girls want to appear impressive. It still bothers me to this day, although I don’t see this happen much at all as an adult. I have a feeling that most women I meet still do this in private with their friends. Why else would they constantly want to dress super pretty and have the nicest, newest material possessions?
It feels like many women are just on “show” at all times. I wonder if they’re happier that way?
I can really relate to this! I would meet women and have interesting conversations with them and feel energized. However, if I meet these same women again, randomly or somewhere else, or ask to meet up with them for a coffee they would ignore me. They would even look away when I would greet them, and coming from an Asian background, I consider that overwhelmingly rude.
I’m not ugly or stupid and I always try to show care and compassion for women to let them know that I am open to friendship. I ask them about their experiences and share mine as well and always try maintain the balance between being open but not desperate.
My inability to make girlfriends kills my self-esteem. I can make great friends with men but often I have to struggle to make it clear that I have purely friendly intentions. But the sort of proximity one gets when friends with someone of the same gender is very specific and can rarely be replaced!
It’s very soothing to see that many women go through this. I wish we could all meet and have great conversations about all sorts of things without having to worry about being judged or misunderstood!
I would love to meet you guys too. I have the same experience you have, and I feel like Nadine and I are so much alike personality wise. I wish we could all get together too 🙁
I’m so glad I came across this, as a 23 year old female with very few girl friends (if any) I was beginning to feel at a loss and now I realise I’m not alone. It’s a horrible feeling but now I feel a little better. Thankyou.
Dear Kathy,
Your letter made me cry. I have lived your life to a tee but am 50 years old and still living it.
As this blog stated I moved a lot…17 schools before I was 15. I never thought I was pretty but everyone around me says otherwise. I look like I’m in my early 30’s even now. I have no family left as of 20 years ago and was divorced early at 24 with 3 children. They are grown and very independent and thankfully successful. So I have an empty house. They spend most holidays with their Dad as he has a large family and I have no family to offer the same type of celebration. Most holidays I spend alone with a glass of wine and my 2 cats. Pathetic I know.
I have a few girl acquaintances but they make it clear when we finally do speak how busy their lives are. So many times I have made a girl friend that I support and am there for, making sure I do not ask a lot of our friendship but they always pull away eventually and do not call or contact me. It is always me contacting them. I eventually stop reaching out as it hurts.
I am an executive and successful at work but would never think to get together with a co-worker in case the same thing happened. I have become afraid of becoming close to any girl as a friend as they always hurt me in the end with gossip or rejection. It hurts. I cry many times at night. I could go on dates with men as I am asked out but I have no desire to do that if the man is not someone I would want an eventual relationship with.
I thank you for your honesty. It helps just to know there is someone out there who understands how hurtful and lonely it is without a close female friend. I always believed that if you want a friend be what you want first to them but that has not seemed to work.
Confused by it all,
Stephanie
Dear Stefanie,
There is a book called “The End of Self-Help” by an author named Brenner.
There are some really good things about all of us that I find truthful and beneficial.
i was raised that life is shared with others. All this love, very few others. Take care and be kind to yourself.
🙂
Joe
I so get you. I have the same problem. I can’t seem to connect with other women or friends. I seem to always attract the wrong people. I’m 30. I’ve always had this problem. I feel like people are so fucking judgmental. Like if you say one wrong thing or anything slightly off the beaten path or anything odd that suddenly poof! you are x’d out of the friendship running.
growing up no matter how hard I tried, I always had maybe one good friend at a time and then no one else.
but now as an adult, I don’t seem to have those friends or any one good friend at all. I know tons of people. I take acting classes. I feel like I should have a million friends, yet unless someone is a scene partner and forced to work with me, I can’t even get a single classmate to hang out outside of school or even practice scenes with. Everyone is always busy, no one wants to connect. No one wants to have any sort of social interaction that doesn’t involve drinking.
I do drink but I’m trying to cut down and keep costs low. And I also want interactions that don’t involve just drinks.
I meet someone, we maybe hang out like once, we talk , seem to have a great time and then they never call again, they never text, they maybe like something on facebook but nothing else. If I do happen to get someone to hang out, it’s because I’ve gone out of my way to call them, text them, follow up on date and time.
I have one friend that when we were both overweight, and were hiking buddies, she wanted to hang out and get together every week, now suddenly, she has a boyfriend , pushed me off to a distance completely. The thing is that it’s been a one way friendship before that, I felt things slipping.
It was like,she would tell me little snippets and small details about her personal life but keep me at a distance. I was never the go to confidant and I felt like why not?! Why am I not good enough? I am a good listener, I am fun and I am a quality person.
then with her I tested things. I stopped texting and calling all together. and of course we went a month without any contact because she didn’t bother to call or text me and it was like, wtf????! I guess I wasn’t a priority friend to her. I was a D list friend.
now I feel so frustrated because I just can’t connect no matter what. in a group of people I seem to disappear and even though I’m outgoing, no one seems to feel comfortable around me. Im not weird looking. I’m pretty average. I don’t dress slutty or overly conservative. I don’t wear strange clothes. I feel so put down and I’m tired of the one way friendships and trying to connect.
maybe it’s just fucking Vancouver. People are so cold and shitty here. drone like maybe .
I feel like I will never have a gaggle of girlfriends or even a true bestie…
Hi Christie,
It’s not Vancouver, I live in nyc. Over 13 million people in Manhattan and I don’t have a single person in my life that I would genuinely consider a friend. I found this website because of this, a problem that I’ve been dealing with for a long time but one which has definitely gotten worse in my 20s. It’s heartbreaking really. I recently got married and had no one to even have in my bridal party or bachelorette party. I invited people to my bach party and no one showed up. It was actually one of the worse nights of my life, I still cry about it when i remember it. It’s just so incredibly lonely. I read everyone’s stories here and wonder why can’t we all meet people like each other in the real world. Why can’t we look at each other as women and say, I like you, I’d like to be friends. And then just be friends and treat each other with kindness and respect. Wth has happened to the world? I don’t know why everyone is so mean, so selfish. We live amongst each other in complete isolation, sorrounded by so many but always alone. I don’t know what to tell you to make you feel better, I don’t know what to tell myself. But I wanted to write you to tell you, you are not alone and wish you good luck and send you lots of positive energy.
Hi Ana,
Two years ago, we had a beautiful Christmas party, with many different types of people and cultures, hoping we might find someone to be friends with. All the people were people I met here and there, the food was incredible, champagne, one neighbor brought a vintage car and I took pictures of people with the car.
One couple invited us to dinner, but that was it.
I was stunned by the coldness. I’ve been backstage with Cher, hung out with all kinds of people, have so many interests.
I give up on people, it ain’t me. It still is kind of strange, since I love gatherings and fun and dancing. # You can hang on to people, but I hope you will see, they are the people that they want to be. # I write music and wrote that line when I was 17. Peace and love 🙂
It’s like that in Florida, too. I’m happily married (40 years). My husband and I are involved with many things. We love art, music, cooking, volunteering, etc. We would like to be social with people. When we entertain or invite people lover, they come and we all have a great time. We never hear from them again……unless we make a plan and take carre of all of the arrrangements. I don’t know why it seems to be everyone we meet. I have often planned luncheons with other women and the same thing happens. The relationship doesn’t ever seem to move to the friendship stage. Very strange. My husband tells me not to worry . Just think of people as acquaintances, but I would like something more. I would like to be invited to lunch or maybe even a cup of coffee.
there are some typos in my post . I seem to be having some trouble with my Ipad!!
Ana my heart goes out to you–just know that you are not alone in having this problem.
Dude. It is DEFINITELY 90% Vancouver! Vancouver and BC in general is NOTORIOUS for this. Cut yourself some slack. I moved up to BC from the States, and I’ve each place I’ve lived up here, it’s taken years to make friends. I find many BC’ers to be very, very stand-offish. It took me talking to other Americans, and even other Canadians from elsewhere to figure this out. If I meet a really friendly person here on Vancouver Island, 8/10 times, they’re from Ontario! I’m not sure why, but all the Ontarian’s (except those from Toronto, apparently another unfriendly town) are friendly. Quebec’ers are also pretty darn friendly. Maybe it’s the “British” in British Columbia, are much, much more reserved and harder to get to know.
I am very gregarious and outgoing, but after feeling so rejected up here for the first few years, it’s been harder for me to feel comfortable putting myself out there to people–which I guess feeds the cycle, but…it’s also hard not to do as a protective measure.
Anyway, just my two cents. I hope it gets better for you. 🙂
Interesting! I’ve had the opposite experience, with BC and Ontario than you. Maybe it’s more small town vs. Larger city than region specific? But, the friendliest people I’ve met have been maritimers, albertans and people from BC.
Hope it gets better for you, too. Maybe try to tap into people doing mountain sports, if you are interested. They tend to be straight up, accepting, no BS people. Solid and grounded. Worth a thought, anyway.
I just wanted to let you know I moved to Victoria from Hawaii in September. I heard that the island could be stand offish. First by one of my best friends that left, and secondly by a super outgoing dude who I stood in line with in customs for 2 hours. (we just started talking….see I’m not and introvert) He told me he moved from Montreal and almost left Victoria because of it. He told me it would be really hard to make friends here and to prepare. It makes me sad because I truly love it here, He was right! Anyway, I am here, if you ever want to grab a coffee!!!
Hi Kathy,
Firstly let me just say, wow this was just as if I were reading my own thoughts, I can absolutely relate to you 100%. I am a 22 (soon to be 23 in less than a week) year old female with not one single, solitary female friend. I am an only child and moved around constantly through my childhood, which I didn’t mind at the time, sure I changed schools more than others but I always made friends quickly (well so I thought). My mum is a single mother and I couldn’t of asked for a better mum and friend to raised by, she is the most loving and caring woman I have ever met and she struggles with the same issues as me, not having any close girlfriend. My mum is certainly not shy nor quiet (unlike me I am a little more of a introvert but once I am comfortable good luck shutting me up) ) she is bubbly, outgoing, super friendly and would do anything for the people she cares about and yet she still struggles to have friends.
Throughout primary school I had good girlfriends and would get invited to birthdays and events on a regular basis. Once I got to high school things changed. The first 2 years I was still close with my primary school friends as well as meeting some new friends along the way. It was when I got to year 10 that it all went downhill, my best friend of about 4 years completely ditched me for her new boyfriend, at first I was soo happy for her as I knew how much she liked this guy so I made an effort to become his friend too so we could all hangout. It was great for s month or so then she stopped answering my calls and texts and starting avoiding me completely at school and always had some excuse as to why I didn’t hear from her. I persisted for quite some time to maintain our friendship but it was a one way street I was getting nothing in return expect being stood up. I let it go as it was only dragging me down and tried to make new friends at school and outside of school, the same things would continue to happen we were great fiends for a few months, hanging out on weekends, going to the beach,movies and helping each other with assessments and then it would suddenly stop, I would stop hearing from them and being invited to hangout on weekends, they would no longer reply to my texts or social media messages and it was back to square 1, friendless, again.
I have my flaws and all of us beautiful women do but I am always that loving, caring, loyal, compassionate friend that gets chewed up and spat out and I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. Not once have I ever treated a friend as badly as I have ever been treated, but I pick myself up, dust myself off and move on to the next chapter of my life. Many Times I have tried to fix the friendship of my so called ‘friends’ that have treated me this way and everything is back to normal for the intrum and then it’s back to getting used and abused. I just don’t get it!
I feel the same as you Kathy, it is me? It is something I’ve said or done? It must be if people keep treating me the way they do.
I left school about 6 years ago now and still have a lot of school ‘friends’ on social media. A lot of these girls are all still really close and I am frequently seeing updates of the holidays they have been on, music festivals and so even travelling the world together. Once upon I time I was as close with these girls as they are now and yet today they have absolutely nothing to do with me. I have tried on multiple occasions to reach out and get in contact with them and arrange to catch up, we organise a time and day to meet and when it gets to the day they cancel last minute, this has happened more times than I can count. Why?? I offer to pick them up and drive them home, even pay for their lunch or the entire day yet they still don’t want to hang out with me.
I am getting to the point where I am started to feel why bother anymore? It always the same result. Is it them? Is it me? The only semi-logical explanation I can come up with is as you mentioned Kathy, they must be jealous. I have always been told I am stunning, beautiful, gorgeous blah blah blah, personally I have low self-esteem so I do struggle to see this a little (as I am getting older I am becoming more and more confident and starting to see my beaty, inside and out) but the point is I don’t act like s stuck up bitch because I don’t see it so why on earth be jealous of me? I have always thought my friends were far prettier than myself, it was never a competition I just assumed I would of lost if it was. So why then be jealous or dislike someone for their looks when they cannot see their beauty in the first place.
What a pathetic explanation I have come to but honestly what else can it be??
I am soo relived I stumbled across this site for years I thought I was alone and a loser for having no friend. I wish we could all be friends and help each other out .
Sorry for the rant I think it has been brewing a long time and I don’t really have anyone to share it with. If anyone needs a shoulder to lean on or just someone to listen my arms and ears are always open.
Have a lovely day you beautiful, strong women!
Hi Katie
I also have the same trouble with making friends.
I used to have a few close friends but over the last few years everything is different they have nasty and selfish attitudes and every time i try and talk to them i’m treated like i don’t exist or when they have social gatherings they invite their other friends but not me. I’m left wondering what other people have that i don’t have. It hurts. I just want a few gfs to have silly gossip with and casual drinks but i don’t think that will happen. It doesn’t help that most people around my age are mothers so it makes it even more difficult. But thats enough of my problems and happy birthday
Hello Katie! (And all of you dear women.)
I will try an explanation here.
Don’t know if it’s worth anything.
You will be the judge of that.
It will looks very weird, and maybe you will believe I invented it all, but I swear I’m just trying to be honest with you.
Here’s my point :
I believe women do not love themselves enough.
I firmly believe that MOST of women, anywhere in the world, feel like they are not equal to men. In a serious way, I believe every single woman in the world will born feeling like they are inferior. The complete society, history, market, every thing, will lead a woman believing what many people want her to believe, meaning she’s not a complete real person.
Yes, okay, what’s the point?
The point is, I DO NOT FEEL LIKE THAT AT ALL.
I feel like I am emancipated.
That I am strong.
That I have value.
That I am NOT inferior.
In fact, I really feel like there is a place for me in this world and that I don’t have to beg for it.
I know how to affirm myself.
I know what I am worth.
I know how to say shut up to a man. REAL THING.
It can looks stupid, but my point is about jealousy. Women who do not respect me and all of these false friends I had, I think it has something to do with what I am talking.
Of course you will be jealous of me if you did not emancipated yourself by yourself.
I understand many grils don’t know how to do it, that they have problems (like maybe their families, their father, and so on).
But I had those problems too.
And they didn’t stop me.
So here’s why they are jealous of me.
I am stronger than them.
It’s easy to see.
It’s easy to feel.
And it is not because I believe I am better than them.
It is because I really believe I am equal to anybody, I DO NOT FEEL INFERIOR IN ANY WAY.
Not because I never felt inferior, but because I really dedicated myself to be better for myself.
Of course sometimes I feel like shit.
But each time I pass over it. Even if it’s not always easy. (Rarely is.)
At the end, I know who I really am.
That’s the problem with those girls.
They don’t know what I’m talking about.
They don’t understand they have to stand up for themselves.
So of course they believe I act like I do because I believe I’m better than them!
OF COURSE! THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY REAL STRONG SELF ESTEEM!
Anybody is a competition, because they want to emancipated themselves, but they don’t how the EDITED BY MODERATOR do that. When they see a girl that did something they are INCAPABLE to do, they see that like an attack.
I believe the way I am is so sincerely great, I look so much like I am not an inferior person, they can’t believe it.
THEY CANNOT BELIEVE A GIRL DID THE ONLY THING THEY WANT TO DO BUT DON’T KNOW HOW TO ACHIEVE.
I believe it’s sad. Really.
I don’t judge them, I really understand it’s not easy. Really, it’s okay if they have an hard time doing that.
I’d like to help them emancipated themselves.
But I can’t do that. No one can.
They have to do it by themselves.
So really, now I think about all the girls who weren’t nice toward me.
Those girls believed, probably unconsciously, that the words of a man has more worth than those of a woman.
That a woman should follow a way to be and to think, because that is what their family is asking them to do.
The way they are, they way they see themselves, is the only thing they know is acceptable.
So they believe I play them.
They believe IT CANNOT BE TRUE THAT A GIRL IS NOT LIKE THEM.
Think about it.
You will see that the only girl friends those girls have, are exactly like that.
You will discover that the way you think about yourself, is not a ‘woman’ way. It’s more like something neutral. Or I don’t know how to describe it. But it is certainly not a girly way, even if I can find some feminity in it.
I don’t always remember myself I’m a woman.
I see myself like a person, not like a woman.
I don’t believe I SHOULD have kids, even if I WANT some.
I DON’T BELIEVE I HAVE TO PLEASE MEN.
I don’t believe people should tell me what to do.
I don’t believe I’m inferior.
I don’t believe anybody but me knows what’s best for me.
That is the real problem.
Other girls feel like I don’t want to share with them the only thing they really know.
Can you understand that?
THEY ALL THINK WE ARE PLAYING THEM.
Because, there is no way we don’t feel like them, we’re all girls, don’t we?
There is no way it can be true that a girl doesn’t feel what they’va always been feeling and that they don’t know how to get rid of.
SO WHY IS OUR PROBLEM INTO BELIEVING WE ARE WORTH ANYTHING? WHY DO WE FEEL GREAT WHEN THEY BELIEVE THE ONLY REAL THING THEY HAVE TO DO IS PLEASING MEN AND BEING PRETTY?!
Well, it’s simple.
It’s better than survival.
Better than simply emancipating ourselves.
It is called self respect, self esteem.
EDITED BY MODERATOR
It is not that we are so much more powerful than you. Or stronger.
It is not that we have a better environment.
Or that our parents loved us more.
WE CHOOSE OKAY?
EDITED BY MODERATOR
So eum, well, thanks for your time and have a nice day.
– Kathy
Please do not use profanity on this blog. I realize that you feel “passionate” but your language needs to be respectful of yourself and others. Thanks for your cooperation! Irene
Well, just to specify :
When I say ‘YOU’ I don’t mean ‘YOU KATIE’.
I believe you are a part of the ‘WE’.
So euh, don’t get confuse into believing I pretend you are different than me. I strongly believe we’re the same.
The ‘YOU’ is referring to the girls that make us feel bad.
So eum, sorry if there was any confusion. Sometimes I can become really passionate.
See ya!
– Kathy
Hey! I have some questions for you. But I really won’t need your answers, even if you are welcome to leave a comment.
1- Do you know about power?
Understand there is some people in this world that only care about that. Big time.
Of course YOU don’t care about that.
That is because you are already strong.
I don’t try to buy a car when I already have one. And yes, it is your fault if you have power even if you don’t really feel it or don’t believe you are doing anything about it. If you don’t think about power, it is because you don’t lack of it.
2- Oh? You care about power?
Maybe it is because you don’t take care enough about your dreams you know. In my world, I am so busy trying to get a life for myself that I don’t really have the time to think about the power I don’t have or that I would want. I just let it take me somewhere beautiful. You certainly have a dream. Go make yourself some cookies and think about it.
3- Do you know about low self esteem?
Understand: everybody feels it.
And everybody acts on it.
Some in good ways, others in bad ways.
Don’t tell yourself you just ”don’t do anything about it”.
You can be good or bad for yourself, but never ”nothing”. (It is kind of waaaay tooooo much personnal to be nothing, you see? It is you. Not the neighbor.)
4- So. How do you act on your low self esteem?
You feeling fat? Go jogging.
You feeling sad? Find something funny to think about.
You think people don’t respect you? Admit it and screw them for real.
You see, if you don’t believe yourself you are worthy, why would a stranger think otherwise?
Oh yeah, believe me, those people who are making you sad are complete strangers.
Stop relying on them. Stop believing they have anything to do with you.
OF COURSE IT IS HARD.
But that is the thing: you are strong.
TODAY. RIGHT NOW. MAKE A CHOICE.
It is the only way things will change.
Stop accepting everything others offer you and take the only thing that matters : your life.
5- Do you think life is short?
IT IS.
Stop wasting your time.
Do something for yourself.
Accept the way you are.
Love yourself.
Today.
It’s important.
Like the only thing that will always matter, no matter what.
You are the only one who can do it.
Did you think one day you could actually save someone? Or help others?
START WITH YOURSELF.
It’s the best practice. And you never lose.
6- Do you think you make mistakes?
Too late.
You already did.
Everybody do.
So start something new today.
Stop making that same mistake again.
I don’t care if your 20 or 60.
My mother start to love herself at the age of 55.
AND DAMN NOW SHE’S HAPPY.
OKAY LISTEN.
IT IS NOT ABOUT OTHERS.
IT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE.
IT IS NOT ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.
It is about what you choose to do.
It is about what you choose to be.
It is not that you made the wrong choices.
It is that you stopped making some.
Choose something.
Anything.
Accept to be wrong.
Accept to be you.
Stop accepting everybody except yourself okay?
Just stop that. Right now.
Stop. No, they are not like they are because of how you are.
IT IS THEIR CHOICE TO BE LIKE THEY ARE.
IT IS YOUR CHOICE TO BE LIKE YOU WANT TO BE.
C H O O S E !!!
Okay?
Seem simple.
And very hard.
But damn it is worth it.
Please try it.
Think about it.
Don’t let it die.
THE CHOICES OF YOUR LIFE NEED YOU.
Thank you and sleep well.
Kathy
I came across your post because I’m perplexed like you, to what I’m doing wrong in devoping friendships. To be honest, I’m frustrated that I don’t have the same response from other women that i see with so many others. I dont consider myself introverted or extroverted. Maybe in between. I’m happy, considerate, willing to be a listening ear, generous, and encouraging to others. But women talk briefly to me then move on. I find myself trying to stand near other conversations and learn more about other women or join in. Your post reminds me of how I’ve been treated and I’m tired of reaching out. Thanks for sharing
I’m retired,medically from the UsArmy(a misdiagnosed issue 40 yrs ago). in 2011,I was correctly diagnosed w GRAVES disease(hyperthyroidism) however,all the previous yrs instead of simply refilling my thyroid script,I was called crazy,psychotic and sent to psychiatry,no one wanted to believe me. Nonetheless,after all these years I Was telling the truth.
my issue Now: I don’t know how to integrate with society as a “normal” person,all my life was stolen now I’m 62,no family,friends not even neighbors will engage me,everyone thinks I’m crazy. my sister told people I was crazy to BEWARE of me,but never did she mind stealing from me. she’s now dying but still curses me. our parents are deceased.
no one but veterans seem to understand,I’m Vietnam Era veteran.
You know, I was tempted to advise some helpful suggestions, then I realized, we are all the blind leading the blind. If any of us knew how to make friends, we wouldn’t be writing here, would we? This blog helped me realize there are other women with the same problem, some comfort I guess. I went to United Way once to get a volunteer job. I had always, always been able to find work. I waited tables throughout high school and college, I’m an accountant and legal secretary. But I couldn’t find a job. I hadn’t realized how tied up my self confidence, etc was in being able to work. The volunteer job they got me was a life saver. I worked in a community police station as a receptionist about 10 hours a week. I taught them how to use office software, how to make labels, etc. I was suddenly a hero, I was useful and helping people. I think my change in attitude and self confidence helped me find a job after that.
I moved around many times as a kid (at least 20 times between 8 States), and I have great difficulty finding friends. I find I have little in common with other women and even when I do it’s difficult to find anything to talk about. Being a homeschooling mom of several kids seems to make it difficult to find time to connect to other moms, and the homeschooling moms don’t seem to have much in common with me. It can be very lonely.
I was home-schooled for 7 years (from age 8 – 15) with my older brother and younger sister while my family moved from city to city across Western Canada for my dad’s job. When I went back to school at 15, obviously not the best time for reinsertion, I made girlfriends who weren’t good for me and let them go upon graduation. After that, I made a good friend at work, but eventually that fell to pieces when I started moving with my ex from town to town as he completed his graduate studies. My own bachelor’s degree was completed at 5 different schools because of that, and I made one friend out of all those years.
The experience I have had the most since childhood is girls or women saying, “Yeah, we should go out sometime,” or “Message me and we’ll meet up”, et cetera, and when I do they either don’t respond or they give me an excuse.
This is even happening now at age 30 when I met a woman my age from my hometown (we’re both from Vancouver living in Montreal) who pursued my friendship in my baby group. She said several times during the meeting that she and I should exchange numbers and “hang out”, and even walked with me to the bus stop afterwards. To be honest, I had my doubts about us being close friends, because she had had a pretty rosy life (upper middle-class nuclear family, popular sorority girl in university, husband is a professional skier from a family of lawyers)and didn’t seem to talk about anything of substance, like Alexandra says. For her, life is “awesome”. I love life, but I certainly don’t see it as simply as that. During our walk she asked what I studied and the conversation turned to feminism and female identity, my major. She had some conventional responses to my points, but most of what I said seemed to fly over her head and gradually I could feel her stiffening. I “poked” her on the meetup website a few days after, and didn’t hear back. At the time I didn’t know how that whole thing worked, maybe it didn’t go through, so a week after that when she didn’t come again to the baby group I sent her a short message saying we could meet for coffee. She never answered and now when I go the Meetup website I see her attending all the other baby/mama events except the ones I go to. She probably thinks I latched onto her, when really I was just responding to her advances.
And even at my age, this whole experience was absolutely crushing. I felt exactly the same as when I was 12, and kids in my neighborhood didn’t stay friends with me because I was home-schooled and new in town. I felt like a freak, even though my boss, my partner and my family constantly reassure me I am smart, intelligent, et cetera (I have difficulty believing them, sometimes). Did she pick up on my lack of self-esteem and find me to be a loser? Or did my so-called “intelligence” intimidate her? Why do women do this? Why not just say nothing and leave it at that? Why pretend?
Alma, here’s what I saw in your post: you think about life, she doesn’t. Some people just aren’t that thoughtful – especially about gender – and they like it that way. I suspect that you made her feel less intelligent – and that’s not your fault.
I have to say that I have learned a lot from this website. And one of the things I’ve learned is that people have very different expectations about friendship. Some of us want one type of conversation (probably more substantial and authentic), and others just want to hang out and have a good time (and I don’t mean to denigrate the second choice, even though my persona preference is for the first). Increasingly, I wonder if we all shouldn’t tattoo our preferences on our foreheads – a lot of heartache (especially for the sensitive introverts) could be avoided.
Tera,
I can completely relate. I haven’t lived in one place more than 4 years in one place since I was fifteen. I think I’ve moved 16 times so far. Curiously enough, my family just moved to Ia for my husband work. I’ve been here five months. Because I’ve moved a lot I know what to do to get involved. Church, homeschool groups, outings, signing kids up for different activities etc. I’m plum out of ideas. I can talk to people, be generous with my time, friendly, and have concern for others. But I seem to be an outsider. Maybe we should connect!:)
Just wanted to pipe in about one thing I’ve noticed when it comes to female friendships – often, the women with the most friends are the most boring. I tend to have relatively few close friends and rarely have a clique of my own, and I think that’s partially because I value deeper connections with people. Clique-y women, meanwhile, do not. When I meet women who are part of cliques, I find that they tend to be very surface-level people – it’s really hard to have any conversation of substance with them, and it can feel like pulling teeth talking to them.
It makes you wonder if maybe boring people seek out cliques because they feel as though they are nothing alone and/or can’t entertain themselves alone. I always think I want to be part of a big friend group, but then when I meet women who are (including members of the sorority I was in in college), I find that they’re very empty inside.
What’s interesting is I rarely have trouble connecting with men, but women can be pretty difficult – at least the type of woman who has a big group of friends. Also, men tend to not connect well with those types of women, either, even if the women are attractive.
Sometimes I wonder if women are just designed to not seek out “packs” as much as men are. Men seem to effortlessly make groups of friends (perhaps partially because their conversations tend to be more surface-level), whereas it almost seems unnatural with women.
Of course, I haven’t even touched on the whole competition/jealousy issue that often occurs among female friends. I’ve had lots of women not be nice to me because they see me as a threat with respect to men, and I think that’s just silly. Again, it proves my hypothesis that women aren’t designed to want to be friends with each other as much as men are; rather, many view each other as competition.
I have learned from post about cliques, thank you. I believe you are intuitive about this. I was never in cliques in high school. I was befriended by a woman as an adult who turned out to be the head of the clique. I am very independent and tend to be a leader. That she called all the shots and expected the rest of us to follow along made it feel immature and what I observed in high school.
I have had major problems with women perceiving me as a threat or competition with men, even when I am married. I have never cheated on any man, I would never dream of interfering in someone else’s relationship and never have. I resent being judged solely on looks and so unfairly. That does make me shy about initiating friendships with women. Many times when I do try to initiate a friendship and they are not interested, my husband has said, “they weren’t looking for a friend, honey.”
I believe that is the biggest reason there are not more women in supervisory, presidential, ceo, etc positions because the, well, here is a quote I heard, I believe is too true. “women are like crabs, none of them get to the top because the others keep pulling them down”. Maybe you have never seen a crab pot, but that is exactly what happens. Very sad. I have realized the very few girlfriends I do or have had, are very attractive physically, very smart, secure and independent. So I consider myself fortunate that they are my friends and maybe there just aren’t alot of secure women that are happy with who they are out there.
Hi,
I am a 25 year old female and I have the same problem of not being able to make close friends or any girl friends. In my field of work there are not a lot of girls and I try to avoid them most of the time. Lacking the deep feminine connection that I cannot derive from my female friends I tried to evaluate why it was so hard for me to make friends with females.
Firstly, I had some really horrible experiences with friends when I was young. I was often bullied, ostracized from the group of girl friends or simply disrespected. At least I used to feel like the other girls were not showing me any respect and I believe any relationship that lacks mutual respect is hard to survive. So, this always discouraged me from approaching the girls thinking that I have inherent issues towards the females.
Secondly, I also realized that it could be my jealousy and insecurity that is preventing me from making girl friends. I was inconfident and suffered from lower self esteem starting from middle school all until University and have not been able to get rid of completely. :/ I also used to openly criticize myself which I see now as one of the reasons why people did not want to be friends with me. Of course noone wants to be around the one that is always exuding negative energy. And also, seeing the girls(who were still my friends) achieve much more in their academics and other fields and seeing that they had a lot of good friends always made me bitter that I was the lesser achiever among them. I developed a really unhealthy competition against these women. This fueled by my jealousy made me construct walls from the secure stable women and find some comfort among the laid-back men.
This continued and I was soon left with only some high school girl friends who were hundreds of miles awaay in another country. I feel lonely and long for that female connection and the feeling of having a best friend.
So, right now I am surfing the internet and collecting tips to how to start making friends. And also doing some soul searching of myself. After all, you need to realize first, no what you want and then work on it. This time I am going to free myself of jealousy and insecurity and lower self esteem and go make friends patiently. 🙂
i like your post, and ya know what- i’m going to do just as you suggest, research & soul search. blind leading the blind here, but here are my two cents, maybe keep in mind that there will never be a completely clean slate for us as people, so don’t be too hard on yourself when and if you fall short of your goals. just pick yourself up from where you fell fat on your face, learn the ins-and-outs of what caused it, and take what you learn into your next attempt. never stop picking yourself up off of the ground! thank you for your insight, i feel like i learned something new from reading your post.
Women are more emotional thinkers, men move on quicker on emotional subjects. I here from many women they rather talk to men. For men in general it is the same they rather talk to a women about emotional things. Things can get tricky when talking about emotional subject to the opposite sexes special if they are married. If it stays with one conversation it is OK but if it continuous it can run deeper with all the problems it brings. When men make friends they do it on a surface-level women tend to want deeper emotional friendship. You can even see this in this “friendship blog”. More women than men. I just run in to this blog a couple of days ago and it is interesting to follow some of the subjects.
I tend to find that I get along better with married women, as I don’t feel so anxious with them. When I know they are single, then I get nervy as I feel they are judging me, etc. I also really like Asian woman, as they tend to accept me for who I am.
Loving yourself and feeling confident is something I have struggled with most of my life. I have always looked after my elderly folks, so I tend to neglect my own needs for friendship and companionship. Frustrating!!! Hmmm.
I am very much like you all here.
Nice to have found this blog.
reading your comments I feel a bit relieved that I am not the only one.
Thanks
Dear All, I found a link to 11 most introverted countries in the world. http://lonerwolf.com/most-introverted-countries-in-the-world/
Interesting bit of reading. I have come to accept the fact that I do like being with my husband, kids, son-in-law and grand-daughter. It is so fulfilling. I do socialize but very rarely. I feel more relaxed now than I have ever been after accepting the fact that I really do like the way things are.
I love reading this blog though, it has helped me look at things differently and accept me for what I am.
Thank you all so much. I will continue reading and putting in my 2-cents worth from time to time. My wish for all of you is that you have a splendid every day
Hi Pat K.,
I loved the link about introverted countries. To me, Denmark seems the most ideal. Not only is it an introverted country, but it always ranks as one of the happiest, if not THE happiest country in the world. I think you summed it up when you said that you are so much more relaxed now that you have accepted who you are.
When we are allowed to just ‘be’ ourselves that’s when we can be our happiest.
Several years ago, I attended a wedding for my uncle over in England and was so excited to just take everything in and soak up the experience. Now, I really didn’t know anybody at the time, even though they were all close relatives, this was our first meeting. One of my uncles (not the one getting married), was peeved that I was ‘too quiet’ as he put it. He kept asking me over and over, why I was so quiet and then said to the crowd, “you know, you really need to watch out for those quiet ones.”
It was the strangest thing, because clearly, I was not the only introverted person there, but it really made me so uncomfortable that I ended up having to quickly down a few drinks to loosen up and then I forced myself to engage in cocktail conversation with strangers. Sadly, when I think back to that trip, that’s what pops in my mind…not so much the other wonderful things.
I’ve thought about his behavior and the only thing I can think of is that he was projecting his anger at me because of something that happened with another quiet person, or he had an ‘idea’ of how Americans should be (extroverted and gregarious) and I didn’t fit the mold.
I really liked the ‘cactus’ description of an introvert. I think that’s right on! I also heard another one a while back that said that introverts were like rechargeable batteries, while extroverts are more like solar panels. 🙂
Hello, how do I sign up to make comments? Seems I can only reply.
Thanks.
Tami, I just discovered you don’t need to sign up (hello lovely forum admin – a bit more info on this would be helfpul for newbies as I searched for ages looking where to login before realising I could post without joining).
If you want to post a new thread just go to the main forum page and scroll to the bottom. I think that’s how I did it. Perhaps others can clarify.
There are instructions on how to use the blog under About the Blog: https://www.thefriendshipblog.com/about-the-blog/how-to-use-the-blog/
Glad you were able to figure it out! Please try to stay on topic under various threads. Thanks for your cooperation, Erin and welcome.
I am very much like you all here.
Nice to have found this blog.
reading your comments I feel a bit relieved that I am not the only one.
Thanks
45 years ago I travelled all of them as a truck driver. All those countries are sociable cultures. Living now in North America I find the USA the least socializing country. If you compare the Canadians against the USA or the Mexicans the USA there is a big culture shock.
And still everyone wants to go to America (USA) even I when I was young. It seems in the USA everybody is on his own. While in the European Countries mentioned there are better social programs to avoid poverty like we see in North America. So anyone has comments let them hear…..
Well, you’ve apparently never spent time in BC! One of the most hard to get to know people-places I have ever lived…as I said in a previous post, if I meet a really friendly, outgoing Canadian here on Vancouver Island, their usually originally from Ontario, Quebec, or Newfoundland.
I am American, and this has been my experience living up here.
Hello All,
It’s nice to read some of these comments and feel a kinship. I have no friends, but sadly, that’s by choice. I find it hard to meet people that I have anything in common with, and at 45, it’s probably not going to get any easier. I have always been a very good listener, but I find that it’s hard to meet people that care to listen to me. The conversation is always one-sided. I admit that I also love to talk about unusual things like astrology, numerology, religion, politics, and what can we do to make this world a better place? Granted, I am not always talking about these things, but I do conversations that have some depth. I just don’t do well with surfacy conversations and don’t care about what brand purse I’m carrying (which is never any name brand) or where I bought my shirt. I am an admitted introvert and really love spending time thinking about things. The hard thing, though, is I have a 6 year old daughter who loves to spend time with her friends, as she should. Of course, these days, kids don’t go outside and just play as they did when we grew up, there has to be playdates which involve adults getting together too. These playdates just kill me. I don’t show it, of course. I just smile and try to keep the conversation light, which is how these moms like it. For some reason, after each playdate, I am exhausted and feel like total crap. I wish it could be different…I wish I was more like these moms and just be satisfied with the light and fluffy. Thankfully, my husband is so much like me and we talk about everything. I guess he really is my only true friend.
Wow I am so very glad to have found this blog. I am from another country, speak excellent English without a heavy accent. I too have been unable to make any friends. I even belonged to a Bible study group for over 10 years and they excluded me from most of the fun things they did. The only ones I was included in were when it was as couples which included my husband. At 56 I feel lonely and saddened. I can even go to parties that my husband’s friends invite us too and no one talks to me. I mean no one talks to me. I will try to engage in a conversation and soon as they have responded they will make an excuse and leave me. I don’t have bad breath, am clean, not unattractive or weird looking. I don’t do what I call foo foo chit chat but I do try to. My husband thinks it is because I am such a prude lol, meaning that I don’t do the whole getting drunk, profanity and dirty jokes. Well I feel insulted by that whole scene. I was an only child and I don’t want to have a whole bunch of friends but just a couple. The ones I do attract though are usually weird or possessive as mentioned by other ladies here. I am currently friends with one that is very insecure as she goes on and on about her looks and has nothing to talk about except clothes, nails, her hair, and how good she looks. And I mean literally she does say that she is so cute and young looking.
Why can’t all of us who belong or write on this blog start a little group of our own in whichever state or town so we can reach out to others like us.
I am not wanting to socialize every weekend but just every other weekend. Just to have a good friend to talk to that is close by. Someone who loves hanging out at things like the museum, opera, movies even, and other little things. Potlucks etc. I live in Colorado and it is strange but I have invited many people to our home and they do come but only 1 out of the many has ever invited us back to their home. And they come to every potluck we have just to eat and talk amongst themselves. So I dropped that Bible study group and moved on.
HELP Me please someone, tell me honestly what I am doing wrong. I welcome the criticism.
I don’t have an answer but want to tell you sound like a really lovely person. Maybe you’re looking at the wrong type of people? Since you like museums, have you thought of volunterring at one? That would put you in contact with others who enjoy them.
Hi Pat K.,
I think volunteering is a good idea too. You can also try meetup.com and create a group of your own with similar interests. I attempted to create one for introverts in my hometown and several people joined but no one committed to meeting up. It’s hard to get introverts to socialize…even with each other!! 🙂
That is funny!!!
🙂
Thank you Lanie,
I believe that introverts such as myself just want to meet up with others but not weekly or even bi-weekly. Once a month is about all we can do. I was not sure I was a introvert until I took a personality test and it surprised me but I guess I really am one as I would pick a book or good movie over a party.
How do I leave comments without having to enter my name and email each time? HELP 🙂
Pat K.,
I don’t know about the name and email thing. Mine automatically prefills with my info.
Yes, I definitely agree with the once a month meet up. That’s about all I can do too. I’ve often wondered though if it would be different meeting up with people I really had something in common with. Sometimes it feels like work having to get together with others, and I don’t like feeling that way.
That’s good that you know what your temperament is. In this society, sometimes introverts get a bad reputation and are seen as aloof and uncaring…and that’s not true. It’s just that we get overstimulated too quickly and need that down time. I’ve heard that there are countries that really value introverts, like Japan and Finland. Would be neat to visit those places!
🙂
@Laura:
Thank you Laura for a great idea. I will keep that in mind. I did receive another suggestion via email to start a Meetup.com and I am seriously looking into that.
The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.
Robert Baden-Powell
Some reasons are we dont like a group of too many friends together, boring, introverts etc. I tried like you too even be more caring,sincere towards them but still have difficulty making/retaining friends for the past so many years. Well at least I tried my best.. I don’t even have 1 best friend!By the way, I am 38 yo. Nevetheless, I still wish you all the best in life 🙂
bind leading the blind here, but sometimes i suspect that the key to making and maintaining friendships are letting go of our self-ownership for a little while. just thinking about it makes me feel like a cat with its hairs-on-end, but now i’m beginning to suspect that if i want to make friendships, i wi have do begin to actively try to bend into whichever crowd i’m in. obviously, so long as it’s not something abusive or destructive.
i think we introverts covet self-leadership, but that may be the very reason why we are all so alone. we don’t want to fit in, and so we fit in nowhere. i feel like it’s high-school all over again, but maybe, life is like high-school from the time we’re 15 to the time we’re on our deathbeds.
try dressing like them, copying their body language, and doing what thy’re doing. it’s the only way, i’m beginning to suspect. on some level, i’m considering the possibility that losing self-ownership for a three hour social gathering might be worth having a few people to not be so alone with.
“when in rome, do as the romans do”
“get in where you fit in”
My husband has become my almost only friend, but I’m bringing him down. We recently moved to what I consider an isolated area of Washington State from Southern California. He’s doing great, talks to all the neighborhood guys, has found construction work and is socially and physically healthy. I have tried to continue running, no biking because the roads aren’t safe, no exercise or healthily living lifestyle or even in my age group women. I tried meet ups but the are all located about an hour drive away. I’m so miserable. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the person who has kept in touch with high school friends or people from my home town in NJ, where I grew up, but I did have groups of exercise/activity people that I could do things with…I walk around the neighborhood here, talk to the 80yr old neighbors, two women are in my age group but both work far away and don’t seem to need or want to do anything with me. BTW, I’m 49 and feel like I’m dying slowing…
Diana,
My heart goes out to you. It is hard moving to a new place and trying to find friends, and it does seem harder as we get older. Being in a remote area doesn’t help either. Based on your comment of feeling like your dying slowly, it sounds like you are feeling depressed. I want to ask you a straight up question…what are you passionate about? We all need to have meaning in our life and to feel inspired. Are you working right now? BTW, 49 is the new 30! 🙂
PS: I’m from Jersey too, Piscataway, and I don’t keep in touch with anyone either since I left the state almost 20 years ago.
Thank you for your kind words. I’m a nurse, but no, I stopped working before we moved. My husband had a stoke before we moved, he’s fine, but prior to that we planned to try to retire on the beach in Mexico because it would be cheaper. Anyway, that plan changed. So I applied and was hired at a local hospital here, but after a few hours of orientation, I decided I couldn’t go back ten years in my career and work as a floor nurse for twelve hours. I don’t want to knock the nurses that fill that role, but it’s just not for me. I’ve been very fortunate to have worked in amazing hospitals in fulfilling roles. I do hope for an interview later this week in a larger, more advanced hospital 2 hours away. I’ll figure out the commute later. So it’s a little brighter now that spring is here. I’m gardening now, so don’t miss the lack of friends. Having friends really does require devoting time and energy. Why is it that guys have such an easy time? My guess is that they don’t require so much constant contact. We used to drive from the Vinland area to High Point to go camping that would be about as close as I’ve been to Piscataway!
Hi Diana,
Yeah, I think you’re right on about guys not needing that constant contact, and, they don’t need the ‘intimacy’ that women need in a relationship. We want to be able to share our thoughts and feelings with our friends. Guys could care less!
Friends do require a lot of time and energy..some moreso than others. I find now that I’m older, I am so picky about who I spend my time with. I made a friend a few months ago in our neighborhood and our children got along great, but I noticed that whenever we talked, she was checked out and just wanted to talk about herself. She also still loves to party, which is not my scene anymore, and she also likes women, which I don’t have a problem with, but she keeps trying to pressure me into exploring other options…with her! Needless to say, I’m a little uncomfortable with her coming onto me so much, so I started to distance myself. So now, I’m back to being friendless again..but that’s ok.
I was going to ask about the weather in WA and if you feel it is affecting your mood? I am definitely affected by weather, which is why I live in FL. Now that it’s getting nicer and you’re gardening, you may start to feel better.
I’m sorry to hear about your husband, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to go backwards in your career. I do think that a 2 hour commute is way too far to do everyday…but that’s me! I had a former co-worker who tried to do 2 hours one way and she lasted 2 months before deciding to rent an efficiency close to her work, and then she would go home on the weekends. That may be an option for you to think about?
My husband and I also talk about retiring in another country. We watch International Househunters all the time and envision ourselves as ex-pats living abroad! 🙂
I have been to High Point too, for hiking. I used to love exploring that old hotel that is up there near the lake. My first husband and I used to hike all over Jersey, and the Appalachian Trail, and we used to canoe and camp on the Delaware a lot. That is one thing I do miss about Jersey.
I think if I get the job, we would get a small travel trailer and I would stay for two or three days, go to the gym or do yoga or something that I’m missing here. Warm sunshine=happiness. My brother lives in Naples, Fla, nice place to visit, but busy, like California, but with an East coast edge! Isn’t it great that even with NJ being the most populated state for it’s size, there are enclaves of peace and quiet to camp and canoe? crazy that some of the most beautiful, serene spots are hidden there. How is it that some people never outgrow partying? Your comments about your friend made me laugh. When I moved from NJ to CA I didn’t know anything about anything and was always the last to know. Now, some of the best friends I’ve had were gay, mostly because they were active and not bound by traditional restrictive relationships, I guess. No one ever asked me to change sides, you should be flattered!
Diana,
Sorry for the late reply. I was out of town visiting my mom for mother’s day and forgot my laptop!
Yes, I am flattered that she asked me to change sides, lol, but I’m happy with what I got. 😉
That’s funny that most of your friends turned out to be gay…I’ve often wondered about some of mine too. One person in particular who I dated for about 2 years in high school. He was never interested in sex, although we got along great.
Yoga sounds awesome! I joined Planet Fitness around New Years and only used it twice. Ugh! I just don’t like the vibe there but was sucked in by their great $10 a month membership. I’ve always loved yoga but the classes around here are so expensive and we are on a tight budget.
LOL–Lanie, when I read your post, I thought that I had written it myself. A person once told me that I do not know a single stranger–yet, why do I feel left out? It’s super easy for me to talk to strangers, but maintaining conversations with people over a longer period of time is frustrating because I don’t know what to talk about, and when I ask questions to get the other person to talk, I was told I make people uncomfortable.
Hi Gracie,
I think it’s so cool that you ask questions to get other people to talk. So many people don’t do that, in fact, they just ramble on about themselves and real ‘surfacy’ stuff.
Maintaining conversations is tough, and I think our society is become almost impaired at doing it because we don’t do as much face-to-face time as we used to. Everything is text, email, social media, etc. Even at the my old job, my boss sat 10 feet away from me and we would just IM if we needed to talk. How weird is that? lol!
I think I’m a lot like you. Not only am I an introvert, but I can ‘read’ people, and it turns me off so many of them. Little in common; I prefer my own little inner world and dealing with other moms and facing their cliques at my daughter’s activities is an ordeal for me, even though I do not show it. But, I do not wish I was like other moms; I can’t, and I won’t. I would rather remain true to myself.
Hi Daina,
You sound like me…an introvert AND a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Dr. Elaine Aron coined the term to describe people who are very in-tune with their environment and have a heightened nervous system. She has a great book called The Highly Sensitive Person and The Highly Sensitive Child that I would definitely recommend. Here is an article that talks about it too:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201107/sense-and-sensitivity
As you mentioned, getting together with the mom cliques is tough, and I also have wished that I was more like ‘them’ too..because it would be easier. But like you said, that is not who we are. It took me a long time to accept my introverted, highly sensitive self. Now I just try to see the positives…like being more introspective and creative. 🙂
Lanie, thank you for this link. I am going to check it out. There are some days when one just hurts and when we remember what we are it makes it a little bit easier.
Does anyone else just hurt sometimes because they were never part of an in-group right from grade school? Always felt a little different? But refused to compromise one’s self to be part of that crowd?
Yes, absolutely. Things that happen in childhood can make a huge impact on our self-esteem, and we carry them even into our adulthood.
I was talking to some folks on another forum about bullying and how it effects them even now when they are in their 40’s and 50’s.
Things that happen to us when we are young can be devastating because it happens during the stage at which our brain is not yet capable of protecting itself.
Criticism at that stage isconsidered a personal failure..and shunning or being excluded falls into that category.
We all want to be accepted for who we are, and we all want to fit in, but being different is often vilified.
I read an article not too long ago about ‘popular kids’ and how to be popular you truly have to ‘not’ be yourself, because you will not be accepted if you voice any opinion that does not go along with the majority. Can you imagine that, having to go along with everything even if it went against what you believed?
I think as an adult looking back, I would have had way more regrets doing that then being shunned or bullied for just being myself.
Lanie, you sound so much like me and at 58 I too realize that I will not find anyone that shares my interests easily. My ex-Bible study ladies found me too overwhelming I am sure. I too find that people love to talk to me about themselves but don’t really care to listen to what I have to say and interrupt a lot so I have given up on real conversations. I do have to say in defense of the ladies during playdates I believe that they keep it light to make sure no one gets hurt or offended. It is the same at work, I don’t talk about anything really because it can cause hurt feelings, offense and/or tempers to flare. I keep it to just about food as I have no ideas about hair or makeup. My best friends are my husband and my daughters and now soon-to-be daughter-in-law. We get along very well and that is enough for me.
I noticed when I am around my daughters and sister we all talk at the same time and frequently interrupt each other, none seem to mind and eventually we complete a discussion, or any at the same time. Since moving, I realize I have to slow down my thoughts and work at listening and not speaking. I don’t mean to be rude but do realize that it comes across that way. So, please be patient with us interruptors, some of us are trying to control that bad habit! Life moved so fast for me when I was a kid I never considered whether I fit in or not, I was just go go go. Now things are moving a it slower and everything is so retrospective, it was easier to be young, now I’m trying to be so careful, it’s awkward. Keep writing ladies, I feel like this really helps!! Besides, no one can interrupt when typing! Thanks, Diana.
Pat K.,
I think that is great insight about the ladies at the playdates. I’m sure that’s why they keep things light. I actually have a playdate to attend with my daughter later today. I’ll keep your advice in mind while I’m there!
I can totally relate to the interrupting. I do get frustrated because I feel like the person I’m talking to doesn’t care what I have to say, but I also understand (like Diana mentioned) that it’s not intentional. A lot of times, they just want to relate to you and if you say something that they can grab onto, they will run with the conversation…and run you over! 😉
My sister has the gift of the gab and I’ve just accepted that I’m primarily the listener and she’s the talker. It is so healing for people to just be ‘heard’…which is why sometimes you have to write about it if you can’t speak it. 😉
Your comment about being a good listener and finding so many conversations one-sided really hit home with me. I have one almost 11-yr old daughter and have realized that I seem to shy away from forming close relationships with her friends’ mothers. My closer friends are typically mothers, but have older or younger children and don’t live in our school district. I find so many parents to be competitive and attention-seeking with their own children…they’d much rather talk than listen. Their kids are either gifted or special needs, but always requiring special attention. My friends are more supportive because their kids aren’t in competition with mine. I recall my mother’s attitude on this issue…she was never one to brag publicly about us and found others’ tendency to do this to be annoying. She’d say “they’re just kids!” I am as a rule not an attention-seeker and find myself being out-talked by these moms who are frustrated their children haven’t gotten special treatment for something or want to report achievements to me. Facebook only makes it worse.
Hi Dani,
When I read your post, I had to laugh!! I just had this discussion with my husband the other day about a neighbor friend of mine who is constantly telling me how special her children are. She keeps mentioning that her daughter is being tested for gifted and that her son is very advanced for his age and how it is because she home schooled them at 8 months old. I’m like seriously?! 8 months old??! What I have found with people like her is that they are usually overcompensating with their children because of something they feel bad about within themselves. At first it bugged me, and my comment to her was “ALL” children are gifted, and that is something I truly believe. Then I just let it go and let her brag because I know that she feels bad about a lot of things she’s done in her past and is still doing, but believes that at least she is a good mom..which she is.
I am not an attention seeker either. In fact, I avoid it like the plague! But I am trying to be more open minded and less judgmental about people that are different. In the past, I have not been so good about that, maybe because I feel like us quiet people are often judged too harshly. Being quiet or introverted is often vilified and was even being considered to be included in the latest DSM-5 as a contributing factor to personality disorders. Thank goodness they rethought that stupid idea! Introverts truly get a raw deal and I think that is why we tend to hide a little bit, to avoid some of the judgment that we intuitively feel before anyone else does.
I find it especially nefarious that these women are using the lives that they should love and care for the most (their children) as competition tools. Yuck! I’m so glad you two are not like that. My mother wasn’t always the best, but I never forgot how she saw me as lovable just the way I was, and would keep our accomplishments out of adult conversations, unless it was with a family member, or if someone specifically asked.
I’m glad others have similar experiences . . My husband is my only true and best friend. Still, I feel lonely for female friendships, and don’t understand why it’s so hard for me.
Azalea,
I’ve wondered that too, but now I realize that a lot of it is by ‘choice’ for me as to why I don’t have many female friendships. Being a good friend requires some work, and a lot of times I personally don’t want to invest the time and energy into it…especially if the relationship is just so-so…and I mean for both of us because I’m not everyone’s cup of tea either. I am a little intense and deep and some people are put off by that. Everyone has different ideas of what friendships should look like…some are fine with just lots of acquaintances that you have just a casual relationship with, while others, like myself, want deep meaningful friendships where you can share all your dirty laundry and not feel judged. I find that the latter is a much harder to find..especially as we get older because we are so busy and don’t always makes time.
So it does seem like whether we have friends or not is at least in part our choice. People are always telling me so and so runs, you should run together. I run to quiet my mind, the aloneness is how it works. I have run with groups and its ok, you pass more miles and gab about anything without noticing being tired. I think walking is best to get to know someone, even someone you already know. I recently went for a long walk with my daughter in the woods and we talked about everything. It seemed safe and without distractions, other than birds and wildlife to look at or talk about when we needed a safe topic. I had a similar experience with my younger daughter hiking in the desert, walking and talking is a safe meeting ground. People should maybe date on walks instead of at bars! I see ladies in my neighborhood walking every morning, I wonder if I would have anything in common with them? I sure do enjoy reading this post. Do any of you girls walk?
Hi Diana,
I walk almost every day. Before my daughter started Summer break this past week, my husband and I walked every day at lunch time. Now, we have to walk separately since she is home. Like you, I enjoy it both ways…with people or without. I am able to do a lot of thinking time when I walk alone. I never wear ear buds or listen to music. I want to hear nature and my own internal conversations. We have a walking trail next to our home that’s used quite a bit and I am always amazed at how many folks have ear buds in and don’t make eye contact with you when you are trying to say hello. They can’t even muster up a simple wave or a smile. I make a game of it and try to predict who is going to ignore me or who is going to say hello. I know it’s silly, but I love analyzing human nature.
I also read a cool article on walking barefoot and how beneficial it is for you. It’s called grounding or earthing. Here is the article if anyone is interested:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/04/why-does-walking-barefoot-on-the-earth-make-you-feel-better.aspx
Thank you. I glanced at the article. I go barefoot sometimes, usually out of laziness to find and put on my shoes!
Lanie,
I know what you mean by wanting deep and meaningful (and trustworthy) relationships because I want the same. Luckily, a work relationship I have with my favorite coworker is starting to develop into a friendship. We have so many things in common. It’s possible that women (and men) have friendship challenges simply because of personality type. Mine is INFP and “highly sensitive person”, and I bond with very few people, so I am very happy to be buddying to someone I like a lot at work, and a few others online, buy and sell websites for example where I email back and forth sometimes.
It is alright that you want to hold out for a better quality friendship . . you deserve and your personality type probably needs it.
Hi Azalea,
I need to take that Myers-Brigg test and see where I fall too. I am also highly sensitive and so is my husband and my daughter. We’re a fun bunch, for sure!!
That’s great you found someone at work that you get along with so well. Some of my closest relationships were with people I worked with and that made the job so much better too. What I noticed is that the more stressful the job, the better the relationships. I watched a TED talk yesterday about stress and it said that the more stress we have, the more human contact we seek because of the release of oxytocin. We seek comfort during stressful times…usually in the form of venting! 😉
Your comment about being a good listener and finding so many conversations one-sided really hit home with me. I have one almost 11-yr old daughter and have realized that I seem to shy away from forming close relationships with her friends’ mothers. My closer friends are typically mothers, but have older or younger children and don’t live in our school district. I find so many parents to be competitive and attention-seeking with their own children…they’d much rather talk than listen. Their kids are either gifted or special needs, but always requiring special attention. My friends are more supportive because their kids aren’t in competition with mine. I recall my mother’s attitude on this issue…she was never one to brag publicly about us and found others’ tendency to do this to be annoying. She’d say “they’re just kids!” I am as a rule not an attention-seeker and find myself being out-talked by these moms who are frustrated their children haven’t gotten special treatment for something or want to report achievements to me. Facebook only makes it worse.
I commented just now (see down below :)) about the same type of thing. With women, at least clique-y women, I find they often talk about really surface-level, boring things. I have the hardest time making conversation with them. If that makes me “weird,” so be it. I’d rather have a personality than be a sheep like all of them. I am single right now, but, like you, I find it much more rewarding to share a connection with a boyfriend/significant other. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
I feel for you, though. I’m only 24, so I don’t have children, but I’m hoping when I’m at your stage I luck out and my kids have some really great, interesting women as moms! haha
There are women who I really do click with, but it’s somewhat rare. I typically click more with highly educated and independent women. Clique-y, surface-level women can be very nice people, but it’s just hard for me to form any kind of connection – always has been. What’s odd to me is it’s those women who have all the friends and are seemingly normal and well-liked.
When I said “see below” for my comment, I meant to say “see above.” 🙂 Looks like the newest ones are at the top. 🙂
I can relate, Lanie! I have always had a hard time making friends as I am pretty shy and introverted. I was like the kids mentioned in this article who moved around alot while growing up. After having my first baby, my husband said I would probably find it easier to make friends with other women who also had kids but alas, I have found it very difficult. I feel so bad for my kids (5 yr daughter & 9 yr son) because they enjoy the play dates, but I absolutely dread them. It would be different if I connected with the other moms. My kids are always wanting to invite kids over to play and I feel so bad because I keep putting them off. My husband is the only one I feel comfortable having deep discussions with but sometimes I still wish I had a close female companion. It seems is so hard to make close friends and at 44 I don’t see it ever happening!
Wow the moving at young age is so relevant to me. I moved alot when I was younger and have always been quiet and shy. When I was very little (2/3) I moved from US to MX .. I had a lot of friends there. 10 and 13 year olds played with me because I had lots of toys and lived in a nice house my parents built. I was happy there. Then my parents moved back to US. BIG CHANGE. I couldn’t speak english I went to preschool and it was awful. I couldn’t understand anything and I was so shy and it was awful remembering it. I began to understand judging and could feel the kids judging me that I couldn’t speak english. Through the first years of elementary I advanced my english speaking skills but was still shy. I made friends then, my parents are very sociable (my mom) and my dad too but he’s quieter. At church and parties I made friends. Then we moved again in 1st grade. I had many friends in my school and in the new school I was shy. These kids buillied me. They called me a copier and it made me even MORE quiet and shy. AWFUL. Then I moved BACK in 3rd grade to my old school, by this time I was a painfully shy, quiet ridden kid outside my family. my parents never had enough money to put me in activities or anything. I was so shy, some girls tried to befriend me in 7th grade and I ignored them because of how quiet i was. I then became friends with these weird outcasts who were not anything like me. Thankfully by 8th grade I had good friends who were like me but the shy me never reached out to them during the summer and I fell back to no socialzing at the begining of highschool. I am doing better now as a junior but I still never hang out with friends and only have two close friends its really sad. I think the moving and bullying i encountered 1 and 4 grade made me the awkward shy person i am today. I wish i could change this but i don’t think i can :/ sorry if this has a ton of misspellings … I never really opened up about this before x
I moved over eight times before I was 11. It was extremely difficult. I then moved over 20 times before I finally had a home. Where my husband is. :). The moving was traumatic because my parents lives were constantly in flux. They were always concerned with themselves, and showed no interest in me or my emotions. ( unless I disobeyed. Then I was belted). The only happiness I found was in reading, nature, music, and movies. I found some great people along the way. It’s been difficult. Some days I still curl up in a ball and cry. I am afraid to go out. It’s painful. However, I’m starting to be thankful for my weirdo life. I’m able to see the world and life a little differently. I’m proud of who I am. I love my family. I will fight the loneliness with thankfulness. Hopefully the fear of people and relationships will dissipate Bif it doesn’t, I guess I’ll try to be proud of me, and live the way I know I should. Morally and honestly and authentic.
Hi, I have the same issue and lately I have noticed it more or paid more attention. I don’t have any girl friends. To be Honest I don’t understand why either, I am kind and caring. I am a single mom and I am very independent. I am very honest and maybe my honesty has gotten them upset but I don’t like to lie to them, I like speaking the truth because I want the same from them. My guy friend told me the reason girls don’t like me is because I am attractive, I am fit and most girls get jealous of that. I always try to motivate my friends in going to the gym with them and compliment them when they look good but they always ignore me.
I am sooo glad to see that other women have the same problem–I thought I was the only woman in the world that did not have friends- I am 56. I was very shy and introverted as a child and was brutally teased. I truly like people but always get nervous when they get too close. The women at work socialize together, and it makes me so sad to be excluded. They are nice to me and include me in conversation, but never invite me to go with them when they socialize outside work. I am usually a quiet person and have a hard time keeping conversation going. after so many years of rejection, I prefer the company of my cat and my husband. I wish I could make friends, I feel like a freak for being a loner.
Hi Martha,
I’m not as sure about what may be happening with vee, but I am fairly sure about you. It seems clear, from what you’ve written, that your shyness has put a barrier between yourself no others. They obviously like you, but likely don’t invite you to do things because they sense your discomfort.
It’s hard to change that, but it can be done. You may have some self confidence issues to a point that it may be worth considering seeing a therapist. I’ve done that and it can be very helpful. The idea is to find ways to improve your self confidence, so that you are more comfortable with yourself and with different situations. At the same time, you can try reaching out to these ladies in small ways, like asking a few of them to go for a coffee break with you and then trying to relax and enjoy being with them. You sound like a nice, likeable person, with a little help and effort on your part, this situation can improve for you. Best of luck!
Hi I am also in my 50s and marthas story sounds very much like mine. I am very shy and an artist who is somewhat unconventional. I also get very nervous when people get too close to me and I think it is due to past rejection. ironically, once I started to accept the fact that maybe I am just too different from most people that I gained confidence. I am joining an artist studio in hopes of finding other women who experience life in a different way. I am lonely, but would rather be alone than be hurt again.
But what happens when you feel like your relationship with your husband is falling apart? My husband has been my best friend for 26 years. Now that we are nearing the “empty nest” time of our lives, we’re finding ourselves incompatible. I wish I had a close friend to talk to about these things. I have a sister, but we are like enemies. I keep all this bottled up inside of me. Its like I’m longing to talk to someone about this, but then I don’t want people to know that I’m having marriage trouble. I’ve found comfort in reading all the posts to this site. I was feeling I was a loner in this world. I didn’t move a lot as a child, I moved a lot in my 20 year military career. I now teach middle school and most of the teachers are young enough to be my son or daughter … I don’t fit in. I love teaching, though. The kids are like my new kids since mine are growing up and moving out. I realize I’m rambling. I teach math, not language arts. Ha!
You may find the empty nest time a pleasant surprise. Our 30 year marriage experienced a renaissance of sorts when our kids went off to college last Fall. We found ourselves feeling like newlyweds again. It has been so much fun!
I have always been artistic and literary. However, we did move a lot when I was a kid. I didn’t realize it at the time b/c for a long time, making friends was natural. But after moving again and again, I had to start forcing myself to keep making friends to avoid being lonely, and grew weary of always being the “new girl” or the stranger, hoping to be accepted. By high school I belonged to two social groups, but I just didn’t enjoy their ridiculous company. I told myself I did, and that I needed them. But looking back, I was so miserable . These groups stole stop signs, hitchhiked, made out with strange boys they met at the beach, said really obnoxious and stupid things, etc. I tried to laugh and be a friend, but on the inside, I was afraid to do the things they did. By my junior year they were doing drugs. By my senior year I was not hanging around with them, just a couple of individual friends. In college I had to basically start over, trying to find nice girls to be friends with. I even joined a sorority. These girls were not nice. They were overly concerned with their appearance, accomplishments, boyfriends, and befriending and becoming enemies with girls every week or so (alliances always changing). And I was so stressed and anxious by this stuff by my junior year in college, it was affecting my whole life. I focused more on finishing school, rather than friends. Then went to grad school, got a job and concentrated on fostering relationships with my aunt and uncle who were in the same profession as I (librarians). Then met my husband. His friends were fun to hang around with b/c they laughed and joked a lot. His relatives were a different story. They are high stress, screaming, arguing, perfectionists, etc. No wonder my hubs is so quiet and nonconfrontational! And my side of the family in which I come from, we had a couple that were mean bullies. I was well trained growing up to tip toe around them, be the emotional grown up, never confront them, do what they wanted, etc. When I left in my 20’s, I was determined to find balance and be neither an abuser nor let others abuse me. I spent many years thinking, studying, practicing healthier behaviors. I am a very healthy, happy person and do not visit them much, if at all. They are high, high stress and very mean on a regular basis. No thanks. Anyway, I got to talking too much about myself. I’ve met many many people in my life, old and young, and many different kinds of people around the world. So many people are wayward, have poor morals (esp. when young), are very self centered, etc. It is hard in general to find kind, giving people that are also well balanced and don’t get too clingy or jealous and don’t get too careless and self-centered. After many close as well as superficial friendships, knowing many healthy and unhealthy people, I have come to a few conclusions in my own life. Once you are married and have children they naturally become “level 1” and friendships become “level 2” or lower relationships. It’s the way society is generally organized. Do what makes your heart sing. Nurture some friendships, both light, serious, deep, and superficial, with different kinds of people. Let people come and go, it’s the only way b/c we cannot hold on and choke them. Friendships change b/c people are constantly growing, changing, being influenced,etc. So just like you can’t recapture a previous event, photo, moment, etc. in the exact same way ever again, you cannot recapture a person you saw last week, last month, last year ever again – they will be altered in some way the next time you see them. Have some steady things in your life that you can control, like when you get up each day, what you eat, how and when you exercise, etc. But accept that most of what life gives you will be a series of surprises, both subtle and supersize. We have a measure of control, esp. over some details in our lives. But a great deal is not up to us, including friendships. We can influence much more than we can control. If your friends are into things that are truly immoral or dangerous or criminal, and you want to stay friends with them, let them know you care about them, but will never support destructive choices. If you have a great friend now and are afraid of losing him or her, remember nothing stays static or the same, and they won’t even be the same person (at least in small ways) as the years pass), so you are trying to hold water in your hands. Let things change, grow, and surprise you. Be there in small, thoughtful, and sometimes big ways for friends when you can. But remember that people are made up of millions of factors that affect their health, lifestyle, choices, likes, dislikes, values, opinions, interests and there are too many factors for us to actually lasso and tame them. People will be who they are and need the space and respect to do that. Don’t pine over that great feeling you had having a best friend all through your elementary school years, or in college, etc. Yes, grieve what is lost, then smile and move on. You have the power to keep stepping, running, and flying – so keep going. It’s great to have something to hold on to, to depend on and we can really long for that. But you will change over time as well, and that Bible study or yoga class or daily walk, etc. that you’ve been doing with this or that friend for 2+ years may suddenly not be what you need anymore and you may really wish to shake your life up for awhile. That doesn’t make you a bad friend or an awful person, just a growing person, with changing needs. It’s like being on the sea. The sea’s tide, horizons, weather, creatures, etc. are ever changing, as will the boat ride you are taking through life. Don’t hold on too much to things that were. Good things can come again if you are open to them. Learn to love your own company and that of your family’s the most. Be your very best friend. Take amazingly good, kind, sweet, happy care of yourself. It will make you so much happier and a better friend when someone comes along. Sometimes we’ll get hurt. But not too much if we have good, healthy boundaries and we are honest about them. Everyone really needs to walk a solo journey through life. Enjoy your company, and that of others that share your path for awhile. Every bit is enriching.
And Meg, specifically,
Just wanted to say a couple things. Look around and see if there are any other teachers or staff that you can strike up conversations with. My hubs is a teacher and sometimes they like to blow off steam and have fun laughing and talking about the ups and downs of teaching together over coffee, etc. Anyone to meet at the officer’s club, etc?
My husband and I are not really that compatible or similar either. We are in the thick of several children at the moment, but once they are gone, I know we’ll have a lot more time together. I realized that because my hubs and I have very different perspectives and opinions about things, it’s best for us to be a little more independent of each other. We are busy with a lot of cares and duties during the week. Then on Fridays or Saturdays we like to go out for a drink or coffee or something for just an hour or two and chat and catch up, because we have missed each other!! We like to go for a walk together on the weekends. I try to keep it light, and at the same time, mix other things in so we don’t get too much in each other’s faces, for lack of a better phrase. Regarding you and your husband, you might consider a marriage retreat (there are many faith based retreats and probably secular ones, found easily on the Web), or strike up a sport together such as tennis, etc. that you can do without talking too much about the serious stuff of life or getting into a disagreement, etc. Even just go to a local festival, theater, etc. If your problems are more serious than different personalities or overcoming the challenge of finding hobbies to do together, try to find counseling or another way to gravitate toward each other. If he is seriously dysfunctional or abusive in some way, maybe get help before giving up. Just some thoughts and best wishes for you and your marriage and great happiness. Peace, JAM
very helpful, thanks!
Vee, I gave this a bit of thought. Not sure what’s going on, but suspect you are rubbing some of the women you meet the wrong way. I am not a very mainstream woman and I can’t relate to a lot of women (nor they to me) so I ended up needing to find people I could relate to more. That turned out to be other independent women. Maybe you just need to find your people, people who would enjoy your independence and respect your honesty.
I would also suggest treading very, very lightly about motivating others to go to the gym….that would be a very touchy subject for most ladies out there. 🙂
Vee-
I’m sorry you have to deal with that. I could have written your post, and it makes me sad.
i think one thing that i’ve noticed about myself is that i put a ot of expectations on one or two people, in the sense that, i expect to get al of my needs met by those same people, and in reality- i’ve just begun to understand- that this is an unrealistic expectation of mine. instead of approaching my SO and expecting him to go out and love being fit and outdoorsy with me, i’ve begun finding just one or two eople with whom i am super-fit & outdoorsy with, and yet with whom i’m always surface-evel with. this allows me to be with my bestie and significant other without expecting them to be someone other than who they really are. i get my needs met in more than one place, and yet, i still have the “real” and honest relationships that i need to satisfy the soul. i guss what i’m saying is, that we introverts have to begin seeing relationships with a differnt lens and reaizing that not everyone friend we make needs to satisfy each interest and be 100% compatible. just hang out with different people in order to expore different interests, and yet, always come back to your tr9ue relationships- ready to realize that no one person wil ever satisfy all of our interests.
It is amazing how hard it is to get a woman attention and interest in a conversation, is almost impossible to establish a friendship with them, I’m talking about woman in the US in general even woman from another nationalities that are living here for some time. I’m a 50 year old latino male I go to bars, the gym, the restaurants, at the office, on the street, I tried to be friendly and start conversations, very few woman say a word or 2, I feel they always think I’m after something else, I just sincerely want to have a chat and get know them a little be . I consider myself clean, decent, considerate, respectful and average. I usually do NOT write on this forum but is kind of frustrating dealing with US woman.
I disagree, women are for the most part happy to talk. Perhaps it is your approach or the setting. It is easy to pick the people “on a mission” and do not want to talk versus those who would be interested in conversation. I have better conversations with women than men.
When I was growing up, I didn’t have a difficult time making friends. The most challenging would be to keep my inner circle-even though I was judged based on my physical appearance. Because of those judgments, the actions of others had made me feel extremely insecure about myself.
I knew that I wasn’t like everyone else, and I had to learn how to embrace myself as an individual-which took some getting used to. Not only did I had to learn on how to be my own best friend, I needed to accept myself for who I am. Just because I didn’t have a closet full clothes and shoes, I didn’t frequent the hair salon on a regular basis, and I was constantly wearing my hair in a ponytail, the actions of others didn’t justify how poorly I was treated. Their behavior was atrocious, and it wasn’t something that I should have to tolerate. I decided to change my inner circle of friends, and get rid of those that refuse to support me-due to their own selfish reasons. Honestly, my efforts had made a HUGE difference!!
Friendship is something that can’t be taken for granted, but it’s important to love, respect, accept, and support each other-no matter the differences. It feels good knowing that I’m surrounded by those that love me to the moon and back, and I will continue to cherish those friendships for the rest of my life.
I really like your message, LaTrice. You found your people and refused to be friends with others who weren’t treating you well. You also made friends with yourself…great message. 🙂
Thank you, Darlene. It took a while for me to accept myself for who I am as a human being, so I had to learn how to embrace my own individuality. I feel that there’s no need for anyone to try so hard to be someone’s friend, so why bother begging?
Bravo! LaTrice. It sounds like you are not “beggar” but what if instead one is a “beggar”, in this case one cannot choose friends Any advice?
Friends shouldn’t “beg” you to be a part of your life, as well as begging to be your friend. If they really love and care about you, they would take the initiative to get to know you as an individual. Actions will have to speak WAY louder than words, so allow their actions to speak for themselves. Be yourself, and embrace your individuality. There’s no one like you on this planet.
Be friends with those that not only like you for who you are, but will accept the differences about you. I’m talking about those who are supportive, and positive people. They’re going to encourage you to be your best, and to bring out the best in you. They will NOT judge you based on your overall appearance. For those that are negative, stay away from them, and their energy will bring you down.
I hope that my answer helped you, Cristina.
Cristina, you are so correct, I believe women are very judgemental and quite critual towards each other and I put it all down to sheer envy and jealousy. Over the years I never take note of people that much in terms of what they think of me and the reason for that is that I don’t allow anyone to put me down or I don’t need one’s approval to do things. i just get up and do things and get things done and get my life sorted out while my friends having partners and husband and kids are struggling. They never ask me how I manage all on my own but yet their first remarks is that I am lucky, no, my life was never a lucky one but a very HARD one, full of obstacles and disappointments pain and sheer sorrows. They were never there to support me, not even a phone call. I made the effort in sending txts or ringing them to find out if they are ok. Sometimes I rang their house and was told they are just going through the door. They never return my calls, in the end I embrace myself as an individual, change my number and continuing living my life with the thoughts that I may not have close friends but such is life. I rather to be alone than to be unhappy with fake people around me.
Wow..you are so strong. I have a very hard time forming relationships with women and I feel I try so hard. When I was in the corporate world they would often gang up against me. Never invite me to drinks after work. It was so weird. I am sort of quite and introverted but very intelligent and know a little about many things. The feelings of rejection I feel are difficult to deal with. If only I could just giggle and laugh and be that glowing personality I see them as. In any case I was touched by your comment and could relate. I too have had a difficult life and sometimes I wish I was “happy go lucky”..Ok ..I off to be alone.
I have read much of what you have to say. I am friendly, outgoing, and have many positions including interior decorator, real estate agent and psychic. We can go from A to Z on any topic.
When puberty hit, I realized friendship was down hill. Boys came first, getting ready for boys came first, sitting by the phone waiting for boys came first, and should your friend get dumped, well the friendship was on the go again until another boy came along. It is a lonely time.
When I was in my thirties, I discovered that boys were now replaced with housework, housework and more housework seem to come first. As my husband was a travelling salesperson and was off a few days every week, I was often sitting alone at home with my daughter because there was no one available. Even the woman next door told me I could use her pool but she was too behind in her work to come and join me. Obsessive cleaning.
Now in my sixties, nothing has changed. ALL THINGS COME BEFORE FRIENDSHIP, except now it is still the obsessive housework, the grandkids, the retired husband, the adult kids moving back home, etc. and as a divorced woman, with no grandkids, life is lonely. Woman ask me all the time to give them a call, and I do, but it is between Housework Project A and B, basically a small window and the whole time they are not present, they are worrying about if they get home on time, did they miss a call. They were better off to stay home.
BASICALLY, I think women do not value friendship. They talk about it, see therapists about it, read books about it, even put ads on Kijiji, but given the opportunity to take action, they muck it up every time. I would love a female friend, but the dribs and drabs they offer are not worth pursuing. I too agree, men have the right idea, YES I CAN MAKE IT, NO I CAN’T…not a big song and dance that I have to wait and see just in case the dog gets a cold, or the fridge stops running.
Hi Arleen, I totally agree with what you’ve said and thank you for articulating my feelings exactly. I grew up in the same house at the same schools until I left home at 18, pregnant to move in with my boyfriend. I was so glad to be out on my own as there were issues of violence and abuse I couldn’t wait to be away from. What I didn’t realize back then was that these issues can manifest themselves in any relationship with people that have various personality disorders (of which I knew nothing about). I’m now 44, divorced 5 years ago and have not a good friend in the world. I say good friend because I mean a friend whose willing to give you the time of day. I have found throughout my adult life the only people that actively seek out friendship & make the effort to build a relationship have turned out to have major personality flaws & their motivation for establishing the friendship wasn’t genuine by that I mean they had an agenda. So because I’ve been hurt in many friendships, by family and in relationships I’ve now decided to cut people off who exhibit these traits that I’m so good at spotting now, and only try to establish a connection with like minded people. Well so far I can say it’s a good thing I don’t mind my own company and the TV is…well, effectively my best friend, that is until I find a real one. Good luck & I hope you find the love & friendship you truly deserve. 🙂
Hi Elizabeth,
I hope you keep trying to find the friends you deserve. I, too, have ended friendships because I felt exploited, dumped on, overlooked for people who had “more to offer,” etc. But I feel that I do have a small group of loyal, worthy friends now. I think it is very normal and healthy to decide that some people simply aren’t worth it, despite how much they want you to believe they are and claim you’ve hurt them by establishing boundaries. I wish relationships were simpler a lot of the time. I’ve also come to accept as an adult that the big cluster of friends I had during my high school and college years simply aren’t typical for most adults. We have too many competing obligations, including our families, and they are the ones who deserve the most attention anyway. Anyway, keep your standards high, but allow people to make mistakes in friendship, too. We all let each other down sometimes.
I have to agree with you, Arlene because not too many women value friendships today. Although I can’t speak for everyone, I feel that some women would use, manipulate, and abuse those are trying to be supportive of them. Add disrespect, overstepping boundaries, jealousy, and control to the mix. The results will be catastrophic!!
I’m thankful to have my best friend, and my closest girlfriends in my life today. It’s difficult to find good friends in this day and age. I don’t friendships for granted, and it will ALWAYS be something that I can cherish for the rest of my life. 🙂
I completely agree with you Latrice I have friends whom I cherish both male and female. But I think in some instances women not always but sometimes can be very nasty to other women I don’t really know why. Jealousy and control does seem to be a big factor. I had a friend who I knew for over 10 years we where very good friends al of a sudden she started to try and control my life telling me what to do etc. I had started a relationship with someone and she did not like it at all. And if I didn’t dance to her tune she became very nasty with abusive comments. I warned her if it didn’t stop our friendship would cease. I become very anxious and started to experience panic attacks. Meantime my so called friend got in with another group of women and dropped me like a ton of bricks. I was upset at first but I then thought I am better off without this person. I now have two lovely friends whom I cherish no nastiness just great times together. Don’t put up with abusive relationships with other women live is to short lots of nice friends out there I found some myself.
I don’t understand why women have to be so mean and nasty towards each other. It seems that some women don’t know how to be supportive and respectful of each other’s goals-especially when someone doesn’t know how to be a friend.
You did the right thing, by standing up for yourself, Rosanna. Although I don’t know your former friend at all, she seems very insecure and controlling. Her negative energy and attitude can weigh you down, so her dropping you like a hot potato is good news. She did you a HUGE favor!!
I’m glad that you were able to be surrounded by friends who are good to you.
Darlene and Tanya, thank you so much for your replies! You are both so kind to take the time out to write the above.
It is so nice to know I’m not alone. Last night I bought two books on amazon on your advice Darlene. I also read up on social skills and one thing I read was that it’s hard to not like someone who smiles, it said to smile at someone every hour, I’ve smiled at everyone today and had a great day, I feel like something so small has made a big difference in a small space of time. The thing is I think I do find it easy to get excited and for change to happen, it just never seems to stick, so I’m going to try my best to be positive, smile, forgive myself and love myself. I think you may have hit the nail on the head both of you. I think I need to find a way to like and love myself, with more time and more things I enjoy and hopefully the rest will start to follow, sounds simple doesn’t it! Ha
I do have a beautiful daughter and a loving husband who is also my best friend so I am very lucky, I just want to enjoy my life for a change and not be bogged down with this crap anymore.
Onwards and upwards, I’m glad to have met you both, what a brilliant blog and wonderful people
Xx
Something tells me you will be just fine Chloe! It isn’t easy, but if you keep working at it, slowly but surely things change. When I have a “setback” now, which doesn’t happen very often anymore, I do something meaningful to remind myself why the world is a wonderful place…it works!
All the best to you and your wonderful family
Thank you so much for your reply and your advice Darlene, you are an angel..
I did work with a therapist a few years ago but since I’ve worked with a couple of life coaches.
They help for a while but then the horrible feelings of self hatred and feeling sick with myself come back, feels like a broken record just playing over and over. I agree that I do need to learn to like myself and to learn some social skills. I love reading books and get really excited when I read different strategies and learn more about how we work. I just need something to stick! I’ve read about telling yourself you love yourself in the mirror every day, I just need to keep doing it, I guess I have been looking for a quick fix! I have this thing which is kicking in now from my childhood telling me I don’t know how to start helping myself, my mums voice is in my head telling me I am stupid and thick! Which kind of makes me freeze if that makes sense.
I honestly hope I can get somewhere for once, I keep taking steps backwards, there must be a way out. At work I make an effort, always say hi etc, they all just seem to get on better with each other, a girl who sits in my pod is much quieter than me and even she gets asked to lunch etc, the arrange lunches without asking me, not that I’m desperate to go but it would be nice to be asked. I just feel like I’m an outsider.
X
You sound like a sweetheart, Chloe! But if you don’t believe it, others will have a hard time seeing that. Everyone thinks differently, but the idea I gave, working on and succeeding at something challenging is a powerful way to silence those voices of self doubt. The idea is that It should be something that is hard for you to do, either technically (say like oil paintings) or physically, like learning to ski, or even emotionally, like giving a voice to your feelings to someone in your life (for this one you may want some professional guidance for it to be safe and effective). I am an outdoorsy type, yet was fearful of heights…so I set it as a goal to push a little out of my comfort zone on the ski hill and master that before pushing again. It creates a sense of competence, of value….those negative voices just can’t argue with that!
It takes awhile to create a new habit, of any kind, they say it takes 6 weeks to change a bad habit, by doing something consistently better instead. Maybe put together a plan, where that time is devoted to building yourself up. That could mean, for example, avoiding negative influences (bye mom for a little bit? :), signing up for kayaking courses (or some such challenging activity), group therapy geared to building you up, etc. I realize you have obligations, but your free time could be devoted to you for a set period of time….and countering the negative messages. Maybe you just need a real, serious jump start, then you can keep working on this at a less intense pace, so it sticks. You may need to schedule some time regularly for the rest of you life to keep you on track, but even if you do, the payback is worth it, in my opinion. 🙂
This is tough, Chloe and it is pretty crummy to feel this way, I get that, I really do. But I feel very confident in saying that if you want this, you can do it 🙂
Hi Chloe, I could have written this post. I have not gotten help. For some reason, people can tell when you lack confidence and may not want to be around long. My sister says she can see it in me and I don’t always know how it comes across. It may help to focus on some positive things such as you have a husband that loves you. It is like the quote in the little prince “to forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend.” I tend to count my blessings when I feel sad and think about the people I do have in my life. One being my husband, that is my best friend. In spite of all that, negative thoughts can still creep up. How is your relationship with your mom now? My mom would say the same things at times. I try to think of it that she grew up in a different time. Her intentions are good, but when it comes to giving me advice on raising my own children, she has no clue. She did best as she could given her circumstances at the time. Keeping this in mind, helps me still have a relationship with her and try to be more empathetic and understanding to her situation. My mom did not have it easy. So, now being 36, it is my job to work on my confidence and not my mother’s. It is my responsibility to try to get out of these self deprecating moments by taking a walk, practicing in the mirror as you mentioned or doing a hobby such as painting or taking time away from technology all together to read my kids a story, point to pictures, make a game with them or simple watch elmo with my youngest. Your right, though that negative thoughts will still creep in, but the point is to minimize how often it happens Sometimes, around the time of the month, it is the worst and I cry and cry and cry. You need to be forgiving with yourself as well and allow yourself to cry tears and then say that is okay, tomorrow is another day or there will be a next moment in that day that could pick up, That moment wasn’t so good, but next moment will be better. Nothing wrong with having a good cry either. It helps rejuvenate and feel like you can move on to something else. Another thought is to ask your husband to cuddle, I sometimes have my husband just hold me for a long time and I feel better to start doing things I am supposed to such as resume, paying attention to my kids. It also helps to organize an outing once a week whether it be an art class or a coffee date with a girlfriend or a playdate if you have kids, or join a group, volunteer somewhere once a week. I try to tell myself these things and there are still some weeks that are pretty bad, but the weeks that are good I pat myself on the back. Hope it gets better and thank you for writing your post, I don’t feel so alone now.
Hi Chloe, you mentioned that you feel like your mom is still like a voice bringing your self-image down,etc. Something that has helped me so much is the work of Peter Gerlach at sfhelp.org where he breaks down the therapy called IFS- Inner Family Systems. Discovered by Richard Schwartz not long ago, it is a phenomenonal idea that has helped me understand my negative thoughts or “self-talk” about myself or my shortcomings. Before discovering my “inner family,” I just put-up with terrible shame over any little thing I thought I had done wrong or had irrational fears etc. Now, however, I have a method of quickly discovering why I’m feeling or thinking such untrue things about myself, and getting my True Self – the wise part we all have inside – back in control and back to feeling clear, optimistic, compassionate and curious.
Funny, the women I see with many ‘friends’ tend to not always be the nicest people. Often times, its about what you HAVE and your experiences I.e. cottage, shalet, trips, etc. Not really because you’re a great friend. We live in a very materialistic society and the closer to the big city you are, the worse it is. Sometimes its better to be true to yourself and have 1 true friend then follow these types of women and have 1000 pretentious friends. Be strong and keep reaching out.
Something about what you say rings very, very true!
And if you feel compelled somehow to not be your “true” self, then you have to wonder what person the people you call friends are friends with?
In any case, life is way too short for (true) “frenemies” (imho).
Agreed, Sandra. It is also very difficult when other women are always claiming besties and it’s almost like you are not allowed to be friends with someone for that reason. I would have thought that women in their 40s would have outgrown such selfish and insecure behaviour but I guess not.
very true sandra, but sometimes, i find myself wishing that i knew how to do it- because it feels like it’s almost a survival skill. i’m tired of being incredibly cruelly and then dumped like a sack-of-bricks, i wish that i knew how to socialize like they do so that i could keep my place in places where my place needs to be kept, like work, roommates, hobbies, etc. it would be nice to be able to switch it on or off when the time came. wish there was some wisdom floating around as to how to interact on their eve- however shallow and empty it is- because, let’s face it, being able to switch that skill on would save so many of us hyper-sensitive introvert women the heartache and headache.
hey Sandra! My name is Sandra too! Yes I shared the same sentiments as you. I cannot understand why a sincere, caring and truthful person like me finds it hard to make friends and yes I don’t have many and my friends are countable within fingers in 1 hand and we don’t meet quite often but I do appreciate them all.. the sickness culture of the modern society = busy…well, if I cant find a better person to call a friend I just have to keep going and don’t lose heart..
Women over analyze EVERYTHING. And I mean everything and that makes a horrible combination when you get two or three women together. I’ve noticed that men can get together on a whim, or invite their best friend over the day of. Women always have to think about whether the house is clean, do I have food and drinks for company , do I have a baby sitter,etc. etc. All things comes first before friendships. What we don’t realize is that most of that stuff doesn’t mean anything when it comes to friendships. I’ve had a situation where my boyfriend had planned a surprise dinner party for me. Three weeks in advance he invited all of our “couple’s” friends and many of our single friends. Most of the men showed up, and only one female came. These are common friends not just mine or his. He told me that the females all sent lengthy emails every single week saying things like,,,, I may,,depending on this and that and this and that, what attire,,should we bring anything, is it formal or informal and then at the last minute would say they CAN’T come. All the guys said definitively yes or no. He told me out right, he doesn’t know how I deal with them. The one thing I disagree with on most of these comments is that friendships don’t “JUST” happen. Just like marriages, you have to work on a friendship, you have to invest in a friendship. If the cleanliness of a house is more important than having a good friend over to talk, then guess what you are most likely not going to meet with your girlfriend much. We need to value the intimacy of a friendship more than our obsession with analyzing.
You are right lb, I smiled when I read your post! We women do make our own lives more complicated for ourselves. Men are smarter about these things, think
No mention of asperger’s?
Hi
I have read most of these replies. And here is my input. What we have is what has been given to us from nature and from nurture. My mother nurtured me to be a ‘ghost’ and not a person of interest – i was the cleaner, the counsellor, the one who should be hidden, the one who did not need to be defended. my brother kept telling me i was adopted. and my father was off making money. my grandmother loved my brother – gave him everything but made me work for it. it was easier to hide then participate in the family. i was made a joke of consistently by my brother. my mother never went that issues – she thought it was sibling interaction. though she never had that when she was growing up. and basically she was ignored. i truly believe that my family had an enormous impact on me.
nature – was i shy to begin with? I don’t believe any one is shy, i believe some are more introvert but can be loved out of that and i certainly wasn’t. it kept me in my place. I am a large woman – i passionately would rather be small but that will never happen. certainly experiences when i was very very young left profound scars. they are only coming to light
the journey – my personality was reinforced by my ex husband who interacted well in the beginning when it was just him. the children came and he started to drift because my attention was on the children and that made him angry. he was playing around for years. If he had waited, he could have had a great long marriage but he got angry, he abandoned the family and was nasty about it. sort of like my brother…
so now i fear relationships but yet i want someone to help me through this. friendships take time and many times they are false because they say one thing and do the opposite. everyone that i seem to know is looking out for themselves and do not really look at who actually might be suffering. i have asked to join things when i have been in real need but have been refused so it keeps hitting in the gut-
but i will carry on after i have run it through my brain for about 2 days because i know that i am a worthy person and i can do things differently.
it is my choice.
Yes, you are a worthy person Karen.I am sorry about your childhood. You were treated badly and you did not deserve that at all. YOu made a good point about nature or nurture. Yes, when it is nature AND nurture, the outcome can be so much more painful. You were treated badly, AND you were a sensitive child. That made it doubly difficult for you. As grown ups, we often tend to unconsciously repeat patterns from childhood.
Have you ever thought of speaking to a therapist? This may be helpful, but if it is not possible, then do some research and reading yourself. There is a lot of good and helpful info on the internet and there is a good book entitled “Codependence …The Dance of Wounded Souls” by Robert Burney. It may be helpful to you.
I wish you all the best,
Lauren
Karen, I agree with you totally. I too was a ghost & my 2 brothers seemed to be more important. My mother didn’t seem to like me & my dad was in the bars & not home till they divorced when I was young. I think the ghost will be with us till the day we die. I had years & years of therapy & it seemed to only make me angry about how I was treated. I don’t feel I got better permanently. I think the pain is embedded in us through out our adulthood & all the therapy in the world won’t change us. I love how some people think that is the end all answer to this pain. I had a horrible marriage that failed & an 18 year relationship that ended in his death. I have 2 boys that really don’t give a crap about me. I think I know why people move to Florida, not for the weather. Anyways I refuse to run away & don’t plan on any new friendships in the near future. I will keep shopping at thrift stores, riding my bike, gardening, going to festivals alone, fireworks alone, grocery shopping alone, walking my dog alone, crafting alone, etc. I never thought I would end up so alone in my senior years but here I am all Alone!
Hi,
Glad to have found this website, there are a lot of insights here.
After reading these posts, I thought that I should give back to those here and share my journey….I was moved from place to place a lot as a child, my family life was full of stress, chaos and strife. Most of my energy was used up in coping with my family and trying to survive. I had few friends and no resources left over to learn how to make friends. Over the years, I had a few friends here and there, but struggled with loneliness and isolation. I am happily married, but felt like I needed more connections in my life.
So….in my early 30’s I began trying to learn how to talk to people, by putting myself in positions at work and other places to be with other people, to observe what works for others, to try new things to get along. I’m not talking about being someone I am not, I’m talking about learning about how to connect and give myself a chance to become part of things. I chose people I felt were decent people, that’s critical and tried to open up a bit and to trust (very hard for me, as I can’t even trust my own parents). Slowly, with some therapy, gentle self evalutation (what works, what doesn’t) I discovered the person I should have always been. I am actually quite funny and likeable! Who knew?!? People like me, after all these years. Still a bit of a shock to realize that.
Basically, I learned to like myself and to realize that I deserve good friends, then I learned how to communicate that to people. It isn’t about being someone you aren’t, or being fake, or anything of the sort. It’s about being yourself and having the tools and skills to connect with others. As hard as this journey has been, I wouldn’t go back for anything.
All the best,
Darlene
Beautiful story Darlene! Ours are very similar! And so great of you to share how effective a path of therapy and gentle self awareness can be. It took me many winding years to realize that learning social skills is an avenue for my authentic self, and is not “being fake” at all. Very affirming and inspiring. Best wishes on your life journey!
Thanks Jen! Great that you were able to learn as well. Never too late, in my opinion and the rewards are huge 🙂
Wow, that’s amazing, I would love to achieve this myself.
I only got moved twice during my childhood but I too am a sensitive person. My brother went to boarding school and I didn’t, so we were treated differently, my mum says that they did what they thought was best for us both which i’m sure is true but now me and my brother don’t have a relationship, I adore him but I don’t think he is that bothered about me. also I had friends when I was little at primary school, but the older I have got the harder I have found it, at the moment I don’t really feel like I have any friends, a couple of people I see occasionally but I feel very lonely, especially when my husband has lots of good friends, I feel awkward in social situations, I try so hard to be friendly and interested in others but it just seems to be the same pattern over and over, I don’t think I have ever really known how to make friends. I just never feel like I fit in, which at the age of 37 is a bit too long I think. Darlene I would really appreciate some advice, I feel so bad about myself, almost sick with myself sometimes as I feel so flawed. I don’t know whether its me, my upbringing etc etc. i also had commitment phobia and worked with a therapist and go through it, my husband thinks it could be something to do with that? I so want to move on from this, I’ve had it for too long. any advice any of you can give me I would be so grateful.
thanks so much Chloe xxx
Chloe, I was only a little younger than you when I began to figure this out. It can be done, seriously :). I doubt there is anything wrong with you that learning to like yourself and learning some social skills wouldn’t help.
Thrilled that you are working with a therapist! From my own experiences and reading other stories on this blog, it doesn’t seem unusual to have trust or commitment issues, either. My suggestions would be:
Look in the mirror and forgive yourself…you are a fine person with tonnes of potential.
Find things to do that challenge you and that you enjoy, mastering something challenging does amazing things for your self esteem.
Read…read and read…books that will help you understand yourself, maybe your therapist can suggest some. Books are meant to get you thinking, no one book has all the answers, but for me, each book I read gave me another piece of the my puzzle.
Stop looking at how many friends you have or don’t have. Instead, put yourself in a position to simply enjoy chatting with others, no agenda other than to learn to relax and enjoy. I did this with some nice folks at work, to work on my social skills. If you feel that this area is lacking in your life, there are books to help with social skills for adults too.
Watch your husband and get clues from his successes, men and women aren’t exactly the same, but he has mastered some things, you can learn from this and apply it in your own way.
Be patient and kind with yourself.
Every single bit of progress will slowly build, you will fail here and there, but if you are open, those experiences also teach valuable lessons, especially if you look at them as lessons, rather than something to feel down on yourself about.
I hope this isn’t too preachy, but I believe that anyone can improve their social situation and be happier about that part of your life, I really do. The effort is so worth it, I look back and am deeply thankful that I dug in and figured this out.
All the best to you!!
Hi Darlene,
Having a set back 🙁 I don’t belive I can do this, I have tried so many things so many times. I had such a good few days but then my mum was to nice, I had a few rows with my husband and some people at work were weird, all these things have got me feeling really bad about myself again. No wonder I don’t have many friends, I’m so up and down. I don’t really respect myself so why would anyone else. I feel sick at myself, I just wish there was something that could actually help, not just for a few days or weeks. Anyway sorry for the not very positive message, feeling quite low 🙁
Chloe, I cant tell you how many setbacks I had over the years. It’s okay, really and I mean really :). So, it sounds like a few things have knocked you off balance, tested the fledgling self confidence you have and you feel bad again.
It’s going to happen, over and over and all you’ll want to do is crawl in your hole and give up. Don’t! Instead, soothe yourself by having something nice happen, while you feel this way. Walk the dog, play with your daughter, read a funny book, watch a funny movie. Then, when you feel a bit better, learn from what happened. What exactly happened and why exactly did it knock you off balance. What button did it push? Understanding and awareness is key to mastering some coping skills.
Over time, you will need these skills less and less, because you will have a more stable sense of worth.. I used to experience pretty much the exact thing, feeling good because some good things were going on, then bad because some bad stuff happened. The key is to figure out why the external world has too much control of you, as it did me. One book I can suggest is codependent no more. I can get the exact title if that isn’t enough. Really helped me with this part of my problem.
You can do this, Chloe, but it is going to be challenging at times…exhilarating at others. Hang in there, okay?
Hi Chloe,
I hope you are okay, I know how hard things can be sometimes.
Thinking of you.
I can’t count the number of times my family moved when I was a child, and I know I went to at least 12 schools before grade 9. I’m also an introvert. I tend to appreciate deep, close one-on-one friendships; I’m not much for a ‘girl’s night out’, in fact, I don’t know what I would do if in that situation. Anyway, ten years ago I moved with my husband for his job, and I have been lonely and sad ever since. I work outside the home, and I’m not afraid to join new clubs or to talk to strangers. I’m pleasant–funny, even, and it seems that people want to be my friend. I get invited out often. But I don’t connect to anyone that I meet, so eventually, the calling, the texting, and the emailing from these wonderful women stop. I’m not sure what to do, because, like I said above, I feel lonely and sad almost daily. I want friends, but I don’t want the ‘lightness’ of a casual friendship. I want to feel a connection like I use to have, but I think as you get older, your friendships change and becomes lunch, the gym, dinner etc. You don’t have the deep conversations anymore. BTW- thank you for your site and article. 🙂
Friendship is like dating. Very rarely, you can skip all the superficial “light” stuff and move directly to intimacy and have that work out. More often, you need to “date” first and build up to more intimate friendships. Like you, I’m an introvert but I can muster extroversion when I’m motivated to. I suggest you put on your most extroverted self and make the effort to go to the events, be part of the activities, and then plan your follow up with the women who interest you most. Be the one to suggest and invite, give it time, and see what grows.
This is for Islandgirl,
Hi! I am writing back to your most recent message on my email, but didn’t see it on the blog. So I just hit “respond” and hopefully you will get this….
Perhaps your area has a higher cost of living? I can’t remember if you mentioned where you live. The midwest in the United States is not too bad. But you are right, it is a BIG challenge! We cook a lot from scratch, hardly EVER shop (!) and when I do, almost everything is used, from Goodwill or Salvation Army or yard sales (except unders and shoes). And nobody knows the difference as long as our clothes are clean LOL. We also get used cars and are blessed that my hubbie can walk to work if/when the car breaks down. The kids have tons of used toys, games, books, etc. We get used bikes from yard sales, etc. The only time it gets really stressful is if a necessary appliance breaks down and sometimes with medical bills. We are so grateful for all we have and don’t need to live like Martha Stewart. ha ha Hope you are getting along o.k. Best wishes.
Hi Jen,
I’m still trying to figure out how to get around in this site. I don’t know what you mean that you didn’t see my reply on the blog? I see it.
I do live in a high-cost area. I no longer teach as I’m on disability for chronic illness and chronic pain.
I’m super impressed with how well you’re doing with managing your family finances and lifestyle, and I’m glad it’s easier for you to do that in the midwest. The other thing is, because of my health issues, I have a lot of expenses that I can’t control.
I sure do miss teaching though. I love kids. I taught 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades at a public school. What do you teach?
Islandgirl
Hi
I’ve read a number of your comments about the challenge of making and keeping friends and this blog inspired me to start up a meetup group here in Auckland, New Zealand for women wanting to make new friends.
In less than 2 weeks the group has grown to 82 so there is certainly a need out there.
A group of 12 of us met for the first time last Saturday at a local cafe and it was great. There’s been lots of positive feedback.
If you haven’t heard of it meetup.com is a worldwide organisation where people can meet others with similar interests. You can find a group and join it or start up your own if you like.
Best wishes
Karen
Good for you, Karen, what an awesome thing to do!
Throughout my life, I’ve had friends at times, and at other times, I’ve had to go it alone. I think this is normal and natural given human nature and the changing seasons of our lives. This forum really makes me think more about my past friendships and when I could have been a better friend to others, and why so many of my friendships came to an end. I can see myself in so many of the stories here.
One thing that sometimes happened to me that might help explain why some of you feel baffled about being left out, is that I have had friends whom I’ve gotten close to, who didn’t want me to be friends with anyone else but them. I know that sounds like elementary school stuff, but believe me, some women are still that way even as adults. Sometimes I chose to drop friends who imposed that kind of ownership on me, but other times, I chose to stay friends with the person, and I would be distant with everyone else.
Personally, I don’t play games like this with people, but I had no problem accepting the fact that others do, and if I wanted to be their friend, that was the stipulation.
I think this is why I understand when established friends won’t let me in. It’s human nature….
“You say why? why? Tell them that it’s human nature. Why? Why? do they do me that way?” – Michael Jackson
Now I’m chronically ill and in constant chronic pain and I can’t have normal friendships anymore, except for a few email buddies who are in a similar situation. It’s too bad, but that’s just part of life, I guess. For one thing, I’m up all night and I sleep all day, and that’s just one of the reasons I don’t fit in with the mainstream and can’t maintain a friendship in the real world.
It has been interesting to me to see the same social dynamics play out on the forums I’ve joined for my illnesses. We usually never even knew what each other looked like and yet the same social crap played out over and over again, and that has really made me think. I guess this is just the way people are. Human nature. Heh.
I’ve gotten solace from reading about Sister Wendy. She’s the nun who taught about art on PBS. Google her interviews, or check her out on YouTube, if you’re interested. Try typing ‘Sister Wendy living alone’ into Google. She seems to have being alone down to an art. I find her to be very inspirational. Maybe her story will help others here too.
I hope those of you who want friendships will find them soon.
Ilsandgirl,
You are right, there are people who get very possessive. I had a couple of friends like that in the course of my life and I felt very choked. I totally understand the human nature there, when we find something we like or that’s good, we want to hang on to it and don’t want it taken away. Friendship just really can’t be that, b/c we can’t control others and make them our emotional or phsychological prisoners for our own sense of safety. Friendship by it’s very nature (I believe) is fragile and unpredictable. True friendship is sometimes wounding, sometimes gratifying and above all, is NOT for sissies (insult not intended). So we arm ourselves with a sense of humor, we comfort ourselves when people leave or betray us, we remember we are the only ultimate “steady” in our lives. Even spouses can be hurtful and leave us, as many have experienced. I am in a place in my life where the wounds piled up and got to be too much, so I stepped back. Some solitude has been great, but too much has been lonely and a pain in the rear end. So I am praying and trying to go where the Lord leads me. I am very sorry for your suffering. I suffered for 9 years b/c of mold in our house. We thought we got it all about 6 years ago, b/c we did a remediation and couldn’t find anymore. But after these past 6 more years of suffering horribly, we FINALLY figured out it was just too high of a level of mold for me and was making me terribly ill (the rest of my family has been fine). All it took was putting a few dehumidifiers in our house, which we just recently did, so I am coming out of it and feeling better, praise God!! I feel like a million after years of deteriorating health, and thinking I wasn’t going to make it thru. I hope your situation improves!! I appreciate the “pen pals” here. Thank you for your insights and wisdom. God bless you!!!!
Hi Jen,
Thanks for your reply. What you’ve written about friendship here really helps me and rings true to me. I’m sorry to hear you’re going through similar circumstances too. You seem to have gained a lot of wisdom from your experiences and I admire that.
I’m so glad you were able to identify that mold was at the root of your health issue and that you were able to get to remedy it with humidifiers. That’s awesome. Isn’t it amazing that some folks react that way to mold, when others in the same household have no problem with it? I’ve heard about many others with that same issue. I don’t think they knew to try humidifiers though, that’s good to know.
Thanks so much for your support, too. 🙂
Jen, you worded such a complicated concept so eloquently and simply. Thank you. It really does seem to boil down to what you describe and I resonate with. Personally, I don’t push or force anything. I believe the right people will appear in my life at the right time, as I will appear for them in theirs’. I witness way to many people fill their lives with empty friendships in hopes of obliterating loneliness, when really, only we can do that. I’ve recently realized: Love yourself, be your own fried….the rest will fall into place…
20 years ago, I was friends with every girl in my class at one time or another, but felt none of them had any interests in common with me. As many previous comments have noted interests in writing, music, theory, etc make you quite an outcast in most adolescent settings.. It became very apparent for me that I was different by the time junior high came along. One-by-one the friends all became distant acquaintances. They only wanted to use me because I had good grades, teachers / parents trusted me, my parents were never home, and I made money from my own job that they “borrowed”. It got so bad, even some of my friends’ parents started borrowing my money and asking me to babysit for them. My ‘friends’ wanted to use my parentless house as a party haven. I didn’t like drinking and acting promiscuous, and they all did.. I was always the “alibi”. Girls told their parents they were staying at my house and would go off with their boyfriends, leaving me as their personal lying service. My parents were severely dysfunctional. But I tried to stay busy by reading 500 page novels, running my own little mail order business, building bikes out of old bikes, writing stories, and training my dog. All of which were nonsense to my friends, and my parents could care less if I got an A or an F or achieved anything extraordinary. Teachers tried to tell me I could be anything when I grew up and that someone with my smarts needed to go to college.. My parents didn’t care about that stuff. So hearing that from teachers made me feel even worse… My Dad wanted me to use my smarts to think of conman schemes, and my Mom simply called me ruthless and made me feel like the abortion she forgot to have.. On one of the rare occasions my parents were actually home together prior to their divorce; my Dad tried killing himself with the old ‘hose from the tail pipe to the rolled up window’ method.. My Mom actually asked me to come out and help ‘hold the hose’ because it kept falling out and it was making her too upset… I guess she figured I was used to doing this?? I don’t get it still to this day why she thought that was a good idea.. Anyway back to the main story; I opened the car door where my Dad was. He was hunched over passed out. I felt that feeling in my heart telling me to expect that he was dead. I was relieved to see he wasn’t when I pushed on him and heard breathing. He was passed out drunk… I turned off the car and grabbed the keys and threw them across the garage. I gave my Mom a really dirty look and went back inside. I was 13 when that happened. So as you can see, I had to grow up in a big hurry. We didn’t move a lot, but the small town of 1000 people we lived in left very few people as options for friends for someone with such a screwed up family as mine. Plus I’d had my Dad attack my Mom while a friend of mine was over when I was 10. I was so embarrassed that I took her outside and started talking really loud so she wouldn’t hear what my parents were doing. I distanced myself from that friend quickly after that. She was my best friend. She came from a very good family, and didn’t deserve to see something that could’ve traumatized her. From my view, I was protecting her by not being her friend anymore. I knew I wasn’t eligible for friends. I was used to being traumatized, and told myself that others weren’t and couldn’t handle what I handle.. I knew I’d have to die and come back as someone else for my life to be different than it was… So I wrote off friendships a long time ago and figured whoever I marry will be my friend. God willing: it has come true, and I’ve been married for 17 years now to my one and only friend. I see other women who are married have lots of ‘girlfriends’, and sometimes I think it’d be nice to have a girl as a friend again, but in all my attempts at friendship as an adult; I’ve only met women that want free babysitting, free rides, and that want to borrow money. I go to church and talk to an 82 year old lady more than anyone now. She addresses me by name, tells me how nice I am, and has never tried to use me for her own convenience. When I first started going to the church, I tried to make friends with the other midage married women, but they lived on their smartphones, talked about topics I couldn’t relate or add anything to.. IOW: we had nothing in common, and could not see eye to eye. They were loud, I was quiet. They wore dresses, I wore tee and jeans.. Its like everything they loved, I hated. From their point of view, I probably just seemed as one that ‘enjoyed being the misfit’ – but truly, I was just such a different person than them. All in all, I think God has kept me from having close friends so that I’d see him as my closest friend. And truly, he is and it has worked out that way. When I was afraid as a child, and even now – God is the friend that is there. I guess its like talking to air to an non-believer, but for me, my heart gets hot and I can actually smile after I talk to God. I’m tired of trying to pretend I’m something I’m not to ‘catch’ a friend.
I often think about that, that God wants us to be closest friends with Him and put Him first. You are very, very enlightened about many things and have risen above so much discouragement and chaos, by holding on to God. I don’t want to be fake to have friends either, it’s not worth it. And I went thru being used as a babysitting service, etc. for awhile by friends – and was dumb enough to do it for a long time. But then started focusing more on my family and their needs and doing right by them, rather than sacrificing so much to have friends. It was totally the right thing to do. Solitude can be hard sometimes, but is mostly a wonderful gift. Mark 8:36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world (or in this case friends), and lose their own soul? I am so inspired by what you have come to understand and overcome. Your journey in life has covered so much distance and depth! Good for you for not letting the crap of this world get you down!! God bless!!!
Hi Sue,
I came from a pretty dysfunctional family, we moved often and there was far too much stress, strife and chaos for my siblings or I to have had much of a childhood. I missed out on stability and was too busy coping with the dysfunction to be able to learn the normal social skills a person is supposed to be gaining as you grow up.
In my 30’s I finally decided that I was tired of being lonely, of being on the outside looking in. I am happily married, but I needed more in my life. I began trying to spend time with people wherever I could, to learn about the ebb and flow of normal, happy interactions. Slowly, it worked, I became more comfortable with others and better able to join in and connect with people.
I am careful to chose the right people, not people who use others, but people who are as interested in me as I am in them.
It is not a quick or easy process and I agree that the most important first step is being okay with yourself. But it is worth it…really. I have a life that makes me happy. Some decent, funny and kind people actually want to spend time with me and I have to remind myself that this is what I deserve, I am a good person and a good friend.
Honestly, don’t give up, just find your own way to connect with people, be true to who you are. You sound like a thoroughly decent person, who deserves the friendships you want in your life.
All the best!
Darlene
I’m 22 years old and literally have zero friends. Right now, I’m at work and all of the secretaries are going out to Friday night drinks at a bar and getting all dressed up. I didn’t even get an invite. This has happened a few times and I’m so confused.
I’m nice, friendly, a great listener and real. It sounds superficial but I wear the latest trend in clothes, wear good quality make up & do my hair nicely. My point is, I’m not an ’embarrassment’ to be around or seen with in public.
The pain is unbearable at times because you feel incredibly lonely. Do you have to be a bitch to make a friend? Fake? A gossiper? Is that what the criteria is to make female friends?
What am I doing wrong? 🙁
I’m not able to comment on why you feel you have no friends outside of your job, but I can say that some jobs are simply negative social environments. I have encountered very immature, cliquish and self-absorbed coworkers at some jobs, and I find this atmosphere most common when coworkers are under 30. I’m now 43 and work with individuals mostly older than me, and I see very little of this. People tend to be more inclusive and accepting with age, I have found. I also know that I tend not be the type who belongs to cliques. It simply hasn’t been my experience in life. I am not drawn to them nor are they to me. While sometimes I feel like a loner in this regard, I have rarely had a job or experience where I didn’t make a friend somewhere. Avoiding cliques makes you open to new people (cliques are often, by nature, closed) and far more interesting, in my opinion! Nothing wrong with that!!
I feel you..
I’m in the same situation as you,
I’m 25 in grad school good looking I have no problem talking to (new) people and having conversation with them sometime I seem confident outgoing (a bit weirdo :)) but I have problem forming a friendship with thos people I cant move from the stage of being acquainted to a friend. and now it’s even harder for me to find friends caus I have nowhere to go and try to make friends
Most of the time (like 90%) I’m home after work and it’s depressing! Just doing nothing…