” With youth comes vitality, of course, but also a desire to make a mark in the world – be that to have a family, a career, an interest, a home.” In fact, researchers have even found that the young can “pass some of their vigor onto the elderly,” improving their companion’s cognitive abilities and vascular health. As I get older, I’m finding it more important to have younger friends. Whenever I am in any problem, my best friend helps me to get out of the problem by providing the best solutions. var js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; Let’s be real – younger women can be extremely attractive and you may think to yourself, “Do they think an older man like me is even attractive or appealing”?’ The truth is, “yes”, they do. It takes time to become a best friend, especially with the opposite sexes (at least in my experience). One of my fb friends just set up a wee diabetes support group mixture of mums & #diabetics older & younger. Now imagine how much your parents and grandparents have witnessed in their lifetimes and the wisdom they’ve garnered along the way. When you’re friends with someone older this wisdom can trickle down to you. 0 0. You’ve heard hundreds of times that you should make friends older than you because you can gain a lot from it. As you get older and enter the stage after college, having younger friends will be even more valuable. 1. Suggest hanging out at your house or in public instead of going to their place. Follow. A younger friend will likely be around their family more often, especially if you’re in college, and they’re still in high school. Experience is valuable to the inexperienced. }(document, 'script', 'wibbitz-static-embed')); Close your eyes and name five of your closest friends. Make an effort to notice the good qualities in others. d.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].appendChild(js); Embrace the next generation. It’s okay to have feelings of love because of the trust you share with your best friend, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are in love. On the other hand, women above a certain age may not understand the impact that social media campaigns or online groups can have on the battle for gender equality. As Vernon points out, however, “a certain amount of equality is important in friendship.” Luckily, according to Nussbaum, forming a relationship with someone older and receiving their advice fulfills people’s “inborn need to help.” In fact, research has found that the greatest value of groups like Caring Together – which allows people of varying ages to socialize, participate in activities and help each other – is a “sense of belonging and being able to help others.” Something as simple as advising you to cut a negative person out of your life and seeing how much happier you are as a result can be a pleasing reward for the friend who gave the guidance. Maybe they don’t understand necessarily why you hate your body or why you spent two hours crying over some boy but they do listen. They’ve been through it all. Remember everything you learned from older friends; it’s now your turn to be the grown-up (per se), and you can learn a lot from the experience. The best course of action is usually to feel your friend out. That said, you’ll have a mutual fan with whom you can share your passion. Just think of how different the world has become in your lifetime. Enjoy. — Walt (@WalterGLG) January 25, 2017, thankful for older friends since they give the best advice ? — Tyler McKenzie (@wtmckenzie) January 26, 2017. It’s soul inspiring and uplifting! After all, age is just a number. In return, when you share your story with someone else, you’re less likely to repeat the mistake. (function(d, s, id) { Twitter. Despite their 23-year age difference, Reims and Johnson became such good friends that Johnson introduced Reims to seven other women in their 20s, 30s and 40s who work in everything from tech to nonprofit to consulting to art curator. But maybe some of the same passion and zeal for life possessed by your younger friend could rub off on you! You know what’s even better than having a younger friend? “We have gone on service trips to places like Fiji and Nicaragua as we both love to travel. Whether you’re being mentored at work or during weekly dinners in a local diner, mentorship has been shown to make people less likely to experience symptoms of depression, more likely to have positive familial relationships and 130 percent more likely to hold leadership positions. It’s a feeling of solidarity with each other’s values and acceptance of one another’s faults. 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