I have always believed that singles over the age of 40 need to get out and make new friends. Life happens and you find yourself alone for the first time in many years. Rather than give up, give thanks for your life and give yourself a second chance to live again. Participate in life, meet new people and even love again. Never give up on yourself! Many of us have been separated, divorced, widowed, or have been in a relationship with someone that required a lot of time and energy in the past. Now that the relationship has ended, we need to create a new life for ourselves the second time around.
Take the time to re-invent yourself. Do the things that you've always dreamed of, but never had the time. You need to be around other singles around your own age. Remember, you can never have enough friends. Hobbies are always good as long as you particpate in the company of others. It's important to develop your own support group. This could mean taking a dance class, joining a book club, participating in your church, joining different meetup groups, volunteering to help out other organizations, joining cultural groups, and the list goes on.....Find out what it is that you would like to do in your spare time that makes you happy. It's even better if you can share it with others.
Staying home, alone shouldn't be an option. How are you going to meet anyone new if you go straight home from work and never leave the house on the weekends. Stop making excuses for not going out. Get online and check out the local singles groups in your area. Don't you think that you deserve a second chance at life? Just because you may have lost at love the first time, doesn't mean you'll never find happiness again. You deserve to be happy and you are not going to find it staying in all of the time. Remember, the internet is just a tool you use to find the singles groups, meetup groups, etc. The object is to meet other like minded people in person and make new friends. You learn more about people by talking to them in person and becoming friends first. Then you start to develop relationships with them.
You'll begin to notice that things are a little different now, then it was when you were in your 20's. Being a part of a group is a lot safer these days. Approaching this by using your interests and location is a great way to meet people. Not everyone wants to meet people in bars. The club scene can be quite intimidating, especially when most of the people are your kids age. But if you look carefully, you can find other like minded singles in other places such as coffee houses, restaurants, churches, hotels and event centers. I myself am a 45+ single. I have had events at many different places in the past. Most people find my meetup group online, as well as other singles organizations. I network with many private singles groups in the Denver Metro Area in Colorado. It doesn't take much time and digging to find these. But first, you have to try.
Bottom line, you can find happiness the second time around. It's all up to you.
~ Lory
