Secret: Making New Friends.

Just ask.
That’s the secret to making new friends.

For me, that was not an instinctive action. Making new friends was never my forte. While I fiercely love the people I’m close to, I have a tendency to hold tight to a small group and not bother with expansion. I have my golden social moments, but I’m a classic introvert at heart.

However, something interesting happened when I moved to Argentina: I was all alone. Mom is a continent away. My childhood friends, my college roomie, my entire emotional support system: all on the other side of the world. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy at home alone with a glass of wine and a good book. However, sometimes it’s good to get outside and see the sunshine and revel in that bonding feeling. We need people. We need relationships in our lives. So I had to figure out how to meet people.

After 26 years and more moves than I can count, I’ve finally learned to make friends. You know what I discovered? The easiest way to make friends is to ask. That’s a little scary. At least for me it was. Asking people if they wanted to be my friend? Inviting them to enter my little world? Approaching them and striking up conversation? That’s not what comes naturally to me. Yet out of necessity I started doing it. Shockingly enough, when I started asking, people said “yes.” They liked me. They wanted to hang out. Little by little, I made friends and developed a support system.

After nearly two years in Argentina, I’ve created lifetime friendships. Along the way I uncovered the magic truth that it's ok to ask people to be your friend. I'll be sad to leave the people I love here. However, I'm comforted because I've learned a very cool lesson that I can apply when I return to the states to start from scratch and build a whole new network all over again: Just ask.

Oh, and if someone reaches out and asks you?
Make sure to say “yes!”