Prioritising friends in the busyness 🤝

Hello dear reader,

A while back, I had the joy of doing a really good thing.

I had some work down south, near where my parents live, and planned to visit them. Since I was going alone and would be working much of the time, I thought about inviting my mom’s best friend to join me and spend time with her while I was busy.

My mom is 80 this year, and her best friend, Sylvia, is of similar age. Sylvia lost her husband during the pandemic, making it challenging for her to travel from the Midlands to the Kent coast alone. So, she jumped at the chance to come with me.

Here are a couple of pics because I know you’ll love them and they will warm the cockles of your heart

And here we are out for dinner (my sister too)

Although this whole thing was for my mom, it reminded me that friendship is so important. The family we choose for ourselves, the people that love us and stand by us, shape us, cheer us on, and want the best for us. And yet so much of adult life seems to be about trying to find a time that we can both make, sending dates back and forth until you give up and give in.

You know, it’s the simple things like time with our friends that make all the difference to our wellbeing. How sometimes the responsibilities of life and the to-do list can mean that we are so shattered by the end of the week that going out and being sociable doesn’t sound like fun, but sometimes it is just what we need.

In this week’s episode, we chat about prioritising friendships:

• How friends over the years are part of our formation

• Why friendships ‘fill our bucket’

• How to avoid squeezing out time with friends in busy seasons

• Why it's not about the amount but the quality of the friendship

I want to have photos like the ones above when I am old. Friendships that have stood the test of time. People who are for me and love me, there for me when I’m eighteen, and when I’m eighty.

People I can be fully myself with and know that they have my back.

Here are some final thoughts in summary before I sign off and let you go and listen to the episode.

1 quote: “I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

1 stat: The average person has 3 to 5 very close friends, 10 to 15 people in their circle, and 100 to 150 acquaintances in their social network.

1 question: What qualities do you hold that make you a good friend?

Love,

Hannah x

P.S. I’m from Birmingham and my mom is from the Black Country - we spell mom with an ‘o’

Love,

Hannah