Are You Too Busy For Friendship?

If you’re a typical person in today’s modern world, you’re very, very busy. You may be trying to juggle a mate at home, kids of various ages, a full time job, and aging parents who take up more and more of your time. Your job probably demands a lot of you, and you may also be taking classes to upgrade your skills, and you may be volunteering in your community.

Many of us today are on the go all the time. We rush from appointment to appointment until we collapse exhausted.

One place that many of us cut back is on spending time unwinding with our friends. We often feel guilty just at the thought of taking time to hang around. Spending time just relaxing with friends seems like a luxury we can't afford.

If you are one of those people who is too busy for friendship, maybe it's time to rethink your life priorities.

Even though all the new technological toys we have today were supposed to free up our time and make us more connected, it can have an opposite effect.

When we do spend time with our families or friends, many of us are also tied to the computer, or our cell phone or we’re busy sending and receiving text messages.

Our attention is never really where we are. Our mind is split. We’re never really committed to working when we are at work, and we’re never really with the people we care about, because someone else is on the line.

A better, more exciting offer might come in any minute, on our cell phone, or in our email.

Many people, once they become adults, become so busy, and their life priorities are so fractured, that one of the first things to be set aside is time to spend relaxing, and re-creating with friends.

Those lazy days when life seemed to be about spending quality time with your family and friends seem to belong to a different century.

If you currently feel frazzled and empty, one reason may be that you have let yourself become too busy to make time for the relationships you already have. And if you don’t feel frazzled and empty, it could be that you are using your business as a way of keeping your inner emptiness hidden from yourself.

When we spend time with the people who truly love us and accept us, we have a chance to let go of our false roles. We can feel more accepted and relaxed when we are surrounded by those who care about us. We don’t need to be on the go all the time, and we don’t need to be putting on a front.

Yet how many people today, living modern, busy lives, make friendship a priority?

Very often, friendship is one of the first casualties thrown overboard as a life speeds out of control.

If the main reason you haven’t been getting together with old friends, or new friends you’d like to know better is because you’re too busy, take a good look at how you spend your time.

Compare it with your real values and priorities in life. Is your hectic lifestyle really bringing you the quality of life that you want?

If you have become too busy for friends, why has this happened? Are you pursuing material toys in your life at the expense of relationships with other human beings? Have you allowed your time to be over-committed because you never say "No" to anyone? Do you insist on doing things yourself that could be delegated to others? If so, why? Do you believe that everything depends on you?

Examine whether the way you are currently spending your time accurately reflects your deepest values and priorities. Make sure that you schedule adequate time for the things that are truly most important to you.

Are there any people you could call right now and be assured of a pleasant welcome?

Are these people that you could count on to help you in a crisis? Can you have close talks with them? Do you have fun when you are together? Are you happy to have them in your life?

Making the effort to call your friends more regularly, and to accept more of the invitations you receive from others, can improve your social life in a hurry!

If you really want to keep friends in your life, make a space in your schedule and a space in your heart for them.

This article is written by Royane Real who is the author of several self help books, including "How You Can Have All the Friends You Want – Your Complete Guide to Finding Friends, Making Friends, and Keeping Friends" If you want more ideas on how you can improve your social life and make more friends, download it today at http://www.royanereal.com