In the US we just celebrated Thanksgiving, a traditional day to give thanks. I wanted to do something a bit different than “thanks to my friends and family” (which I do give thanks for). The “taking stock” blog approach uses a one word or one letter prompt approach for creating a blog post. You are … Continue reading Gratitude ala Taking stock
One of the continuing challenges for me in retirement has been creating and maintaining connections/friendships. I’ve stated before that when I left full-time working, I lost 80% of my daily connections. While these were not necessarily all close friendships, they were connections that provided me with support, validation, advice, a sounding board, and inspiration. Intentional … Continue reading Additional Thoughts on Friendship
I’m beginning to believe I have a distorted vision of friendship and that the “perfect picture of female friendship” is a just a fantasy. The BFF from childhood or high-school, who remains your BFF through it all – just getting older and grayer now. The tight knit group of besties who do things together all … Continue reading Let Go of the Fantasy
A friend sent me an article about intentionality in friendship, saying it sounded a bit like me. (see link here) Actually, this described someone more anal than me when it comes to Intentional Connections! I’m mentioned this many times, but when I retired, I lost 75% of my daily connections. Our Big Move to Florida … Continue reading Being Intentional about Friendship
A blog link-up I often read (link here) has the prompt this week of “taking stock” which really resonated with me. Spring has sprung, the pandemic has a light at the end of the tunnel, and we are embarking on a huge lifestyle transition. I felt it was time for a taking stock look at … Continue reading Taking Stock of the Emotional Ups and Downs
In Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection she mentions a few types of friends in relationship to responding to sharing an experience. Being a friend is one on my development areas. I used to believe I wasn’t a good friend at all, so acknowledging this as a development area instead is an improved belief for me. … Continue reading How do you Listen & Respond?
There is a lot of research about the benefits of a strong circle of friends, especially as we grow older. It seems like all the research published the why it’s important, but little is ever written on the How to do it! How do you maintain friendships as your life dramatically changes moving into retirement? … Continue reading Investment in Friendship
Recently I wrote about focusing on friendship to build stronger relationship connections in this next stage of life. With the loss of so many of my connections post-working, I’ve had to re-think what does friendship really mean. When I retired, I lost a significant portion of people I considered to be friends. These friends were … Continue reading What is Friendship?
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