This past week, I was sitting at a red light, waiting to turn out of a busy shopping center on a Sunday afternoon. Patiently I waited until it was all clear to go, but it took some time, and in that time, I began to watch people drive in and out of the parking lot and streets. I was really amazed to find that there were so many people driving alone. There was a time, when I could remember cars packed with people. It feels like more and more, we have become less concerned with being around people. Maybe it’s because of so much technology available, but then I started to think about it further. Maybe it’s not as much about that at all. Instead, we have become more afraid of being hurt by people.

For many, we’ve been disappointed so many times that we give up on the idea of building new friendships. It makes it harder to not find ourselves alone. At least this is what I have found. Making new friends has become a difficult task for someone who is social. The trend has become mostly about being by ourselves and filing our days with busyness. This has started to change our relationships. I find it myself, almost weekly. There are many times that I would much rather be out with my friends, however, very few of them wish to make the time. It’s nice to have social media, but when it becomes the primary source of communication then we’ve lost the true meaning for why we are humans.

I always felt that we were created with the thinking that having people around you would lead to living longer, to healing quicker, and to fighting physical and mental ailments. By taking that away we become more prone to just the opposite, not living as long, not fighting illness as quickly, and becoming more likely to feeling sad and frustrated. I don’t think that this is what life was meant to be. I don’t think that we were meant to make our lives so complex and busy, that we forget about building new friendships, or keeping current friendships.

I often wish that we could go back to life before technology, before social media, before cell phones and computers. Making friends and building relationships may not have been simpler, but they were much more fulfilling. We were more likely to take a chance on one another and time was spent sitting on front porches and speaking.