to be happy without friends

[yourmysafespace]

Since i left college i haven't had any friends. For a while i wondered why until i realized i don't allow people close to me.
Im married with 3 kids and any me time is spent reading or Watching tv.
I just can't imagine having someone else i need to spend time with or talk to.
I enjoy my own company and if im honest im slightly strange.

saying that i do talk to school mums or similar which i do enjoy as its limited to 5 ish mins and zero effect.

That’s you and that’s okay

I like having friends to learn from and go and have fun with but that’s me
I like the pub and a dance etc and it’s just better with friends

I’m ‘selectively social’ and would quite happily go weeks without seeking out social engagements, avoiding phone calls and just enjoying my own company. However, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have fantastic friendships and my life would be immeasurably worse without them. I’m single, with teenage children, so life would be lonely if I didn’t have my friends.

I just think over-reliance on your immediate family, whether that’s your spouse and children or siblings and parents, makes for quite a limiting and narrow world.

How is having a spouse, children, parents, coworkers, siblings, acquaintances, and neighbours a narrow world view? You could have an equally narrow world with friends who are just like you. There's no logical reason except superiority. Same way being single doesn't mean you have to be lacking anything.

What if you were going through a crisis involving your family and you needed an external sounding board?

What is there was a crisis/argument and your friend group dropped you? I'd imagine the same as what you'd do then, find someone else in your network or cope by yourself.

It's ideal to have friends, but they're not necessarily Super close to you. And some people just don't, I don't see why it's anybody else's mission to make others feel bad if they like how things are. Or if they don't, it just makes them feel worse

Also re world view, not having close friends doesn't mean you never interact with anyone. Others here have said they have sociable jobs iirc

I have loads of friends and acquaintances but I’m happy on my own. I don’t need anyone else. I’d also like to spend my me time watching tv and reading as my life is pretty full on so I’d prefer to rest. I see my friends and attend gatherings and the like and do enjoy myself but I’m happy at home. I wouldn’t miss it all if it wasn’t there. I don’t think you’re weird at all tbh.

I have a friend who literally can’t be on her own, always having to be busy and with people and meeting up and I find it exhausting. People are different and that’s fine.

@laddyandthetramp

Its not really a mission I just think variety and balance is important and you’re not going to get that if you hang out exclusively with members of your own family.

People can suit themselves but I couldn’t live like that, I would feel unbearably stifled.

Friendship groups can also be very insular but the trick is to expose yourself to as many different types of people as possible, not to shut everything down.