Imagine being a child again. Your parents tell you that you’re moving soon. You may have three months to pack up and leave or you may have three days. Imagine leaving your closest friends and your favorite teachers. Everything is going to change. You are about to embark on a new journey and familiarize yourself with new faces. These new faces are essential to your emotional and mental health within this new culture no matter where you are traveling.
According to Healthy Lifestyle, friends are good for your health because they:
- Increase your sense of belonging and purpose
- Boost your happiness and reduce your stress
- Improve your self-confidence and self-worth
- Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one
- Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise
Although it may be difficult to say goodbye to your current friends and put forth the effort to make new ones, Healthy Lifestyle says the investment is worthwhile.
So what are some ways to create these new relationships? You can attend community events, volunteer, join groups in the area, or even go for a walk around and say “hello” to people you see. Above all, remember not to judge. You’re not in a competition with anyone. Tapping.com says, “Each of us has a unique belief system, a way of seeing the world that is slightly different to everyone else’s.” Like you, you could be meeting someone who is new to the area and looking for a face to familiarize with, so avoid any judgments.
When looking for this new friend, Help Guide says to listen to the people you’re talking with. Are they genuinely interested in what you’re saying? They continue by saying a good friend, “does not require you to always agree with [them].” This is important because you even though you may be in a different culture, you should never have to be in a different character.
This brings me to the last and most important part of creating new friendships. To make a friend, you have to be able to be friends with you. Accept yourself. Love yourself. Be positive. Tapping.com says, “If you like yourself, you will like the people you naturally meet, and they will like you. If you don’t like yourself, you will waste energy trying to get with people who aren’t like you, or you will settle for being with someone you don’t like”. Take this advice, and you will make new friends, awesome friends, in cultures all around the world.
