Do you remember being younger and having to eat lunch alone because your friends that you normally eat with weren’t there? Maybe you were new to the school or didn’t have many friends. Did you ever see a group of kids and it looked like they would be fun to be around and you never approached them for one reason or another? I’m now experiencing this in my adult life.

We go through multiple phases in our lives. When we are children, we have neighbor friends, friends we meet through sports or theater (yes, I was the latter of the two), school friends and family friends. As we start to get older, those friendships change. Those junior high and high school years are tough ones…and I truly cannot image how much tougher it is now with the world of social media – reminder to check in on your kiddos…that is SO hard to navigate WITHOUT social media. You are at an awkward phase in life period and then wham – your body changes, your emotions, school gets tougher…I mean, no thanks on going back to teenage years in this day (take me back to the 80’s all day long, but you can keep your modern day things).

Then you get into your 20’s, friends start careers and families and distance can also cause strain on a friendship. For me, that was one of my toughest stages of friendship (until now). All of my good high school friends (who I’m blessed to still have in my life) were in college and I wasn’t. I started my career and was the first one to start having children. It was a rough transition and can get very lonely. It’s HARD to meet and keep good people in your life.

When my kids got into school and sports, their friend circle became their teammates, neighbors and school friends. My friends became friends from work, their teammates parents (thank goodness I liked them) and neighbors. I also worked outside of the home for most of their childhood, so it was a tad easier to meet more people.

As my kids got older and my career changed, so did some friendships. I met some people later in life, that I don’t know how I would have gotten through the later stages in my life without. If you sit and look back on your life, do you ever think that a higher power placed certain people in your life at the perfect time?

For those of you that follow me on social media, you know that on Monday mornings, I give you a little bravery reminder, as BRAVE is one of my words of the year. This week, I reminded you (and myself) to be brave enough to introduce yourself to someone. I’m serious. Perhaps it isn’t YOU that needs the introduction, maybe they need to smile today and you saying Hi or introducing yourself is what they needed too? Perspective. Who knows – maybe it turns into a friendship that you BOTH need and want in your life.

I’ve recently moved to a new city and although I’m truly blessed in the friend department – I don’t take that for granted – I still would like to meet some great local girlfriends. Last week, our internet was out so I was in and out of coffee shops and the library. I boldly introduced myself to the librarian (so kind) and we chatted a bit. I told her I was writing a book and she responded and said ‘that is great, when you are done, bring in a copy and we can put a ‘local author’ sticker and put it on display’. What?! If I never would have gotten out of my comfort zone and said something, I never would have known that – how cool.

I also found myself in that situation of witnessing two women sitting next to me at a coffee shop and I so badly wanted to ask where they practice Yoga and I couldn’t build up the courage (I kick myself now – they seemed like cool people to be around). I met a neighbor and walked away with a ‘let’s connect sometime’. Well, we all know how that goes. I was a little more brave this time (thanks to my boyfriend for the nudge), I got on my bike and went back over there after we got home, knowing that she’s either going to think I’m a crazy person or just want to connect. Turns out, she didn’t seem to think I was crazy (if you are reading this, for the record…I’m not crazy…well, mostly not crazy – Ha!), we went to rivaling high schools and I feel like we could have chatted for hours. Such a sweet woman.

So…hello, it is nice to meet all of you. Let’s get our phones out of our faces and introduce ourselves to people. Like I said, perhaps you are loaded up with friends and don’t need anymore…but maybe that person you choose to say Hi to was that small child sitting all alone on the playground and no one ever approached them. Be a friend, make someone smile. Go buy yourself some flowers (or remind your loved ones how happy they make you) and as always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!