How to reconnect with an old friend
We’ve heard all the clichés about there not being enough hours in the day, and it’s true that most people you speak to admit to being fairly busy. But if you’re like many of us, there are probably some people in your life that you have become to busy to keep in touch with.
Not necessarily because you had a falling out or didn’t have much in common. More than likely there has just been a breakdown in communication and therefore it’s been a while since you connected. So what do you do if you want to get back in touch with an old friend, colleague, neighbour or even school friend from days gone by? Often the simplest methods of communication are the best.
1. Call them
Sometimes you catch up with an old friend and within minutes it feels as though you’ve never been apart. This is the sign of real friendship. If this is you, pick up the phone and give your old pal a call. Even if you don’t get through it’s surely going to brighten their day when they get a voicemail from you, and it’s then going to give them the prompt to call you back when they have some time.
2. Send a note
Another great option is to send them a letter, card or email. This takes the pressure off as you can spend time thinking about what you’d like to say. Essentially all you need to do is let them know you’re thinking of them and that you’d love to catch up sometime. You could even suggest meeting up sometime in the near future for a coffee (if they live close by) or speaking about a potential road trip to see them. A great idea to rekindle an old friendship is to send them something such as an old photograph of the two of you. Then you can say something like ‘I just found this photograph of us and it made me smile.’
3. Message them
If you’re on Facebook you might be “keeping up” with their life by looking at their photos or liking their status updates. But you can do more than that by sending them a quick message on Facebook (or via text) if that’s more your style. Let them know you saw the pictures of their family holiday and it made you think that you hadn’t spoken to each other in so long. This is a very low key way to get in touch which is nice if it’s been years since catch ups and you want to keep things light.
4. Just show up
Again it depends on the friendship and where you are based compared to your friend, but if for instance you were able to pop into your friend’s local pub (where you know they spend a few hours every Saturday afternoon) or you can walk into a shop they work in when you’re passing through their town – why not try that? Sometimes it takes a grand gesture to get the lines of communication open.
Have you got any stories about re-connecting with an old friend? We would love to hear from you in the comments.
Related links:
6 important reasons why we need good friends
9 tips to help you feel connected to others