Kill loneliness together

Maintaining friendships in adulthood is tough.

Some people rely on work to provide friendship, but this gets tricky. At their best these are relationships of convenience. At worst they are completely transactional.

We have children. Kids are enjoyable but they aren’t friends. To treat your child like your friend is to do a disservice as their father.

Hopefully your wife is your best friend. But as good as this relationship can be it’s never the comradery that many men long for.

“The guys my husband played basketball with were constantly injuring themselves. But it was such a good thing. If it wasn’t for them the only friends he would have were my friends’ husbands.”

This short story shared at our church potluck helped illuminate what was wrong with my Saturday and why my Sunday was going so much better.

My first week back to work after vacation was a downer. I wasn’t excited about the projects I was working on. I felt less than productive. I was once wondered if the work I did had any real meaning or value. Even my Saturday long run didn’t brighten my mood.

I felt lonely and useless. I could have used a friend to commiserate with. Instead, I numbed myself with a videogame.

Sunday started with another run. This time with a good friend. Not a friend of convenience but a friend you have for the pure joy of knowing each other.

I didn’t even talk about what had me down the past week. Just knowing that we’re both out there doing our best to love our families and make the most of our finite existence on this planet brightened my mood.

One in four people on this planet reports being lonely. Dear readers, let’s work to change that stat.

Quality friendship can be hard to find but this treasure is worth the pursuit.