Sunday, March 1, 2015

Do I Need New Friends?

After two agonizing weeks with shingles, today is a bit better.

I still feel like crap though and my skin looks like it was burnt.  My face is hideous; at least the part affected by shingles is.  My left eye is blurry and I have that itchy, sensitive feeling on my scalp.  The Ophthalmologist checked my eye on Friday, and he said everything looks great.  I have to see him again in a week.  I didn't know shingles can be so dangerous especially when it affects the eye.  Thank God for early diagnosis and timely intervention of the anti-viral drugs, it could have been worse.  I'm pissed because having shingles will postpone my May vaccinations.

Winter, icy conditions and sickness can really reel in the blues.  I've been feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Lately, I've been contemplating about the lack thereof or having too few friends in the area.  I know I have many childhood and high school friends (you know who you are), but almost all of them live abroad.

Is it really harder to make friends when you're older? Or have I simply stopped making the effort to make friends?

11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, this shingles thing is worse than I thought it was. I didn't realize that it affects the eye as well. I thought the person only has to contend with itchiness, which can be very annoying but I thought quite benign medically. Take care dear.

    I made friends in school and that's about it. At work it is so different. We never really got to be friends, just co workers. Although church has been a good source of friendship and much needed support. I am very fortunate to have a large family within a 10 mile radius and they have become my friends too.

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    1. That's the thing, most of my family live in Cali and Hawaii, so being out here in MD is so lonely at times. Kepi and I have been contemplating about moving some place warmer.

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  2. I think we can make friends at any age. It's just a question of meeting the right people.

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    1. Loree, I agree. It seems that the friends I thought were my friends were really not my friends.

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  3. I agree it is much harder to make friends when we are older. We are wiser so we tend to be a bit picky in 'making' friends. I've lost track of my friends since we kept moving a lot during my childhood. Most of my friends from HS and College days I barely see them and it has been mostly through FB that I 'see' them. After I got married, some of my hubby's friends became acquaintances so I guess I myself haven't made any effort to make new friends hehe

    Hope you are feeling better now, Kayni. Take care!

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    1. I agree. Part of me wants to make the effort, but in my experience, it seems that I'm the only one trying.

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  4. Hope you get better soon.
    about making friends...I find it easy to make friends, but I dont have much time or do so much effort to cultivate a deeper relstionship because I dont have much time and I just love to be at home with my own company:)

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    1. Hi Joy, you're right. Time must be invested in friendship. I find myself too busy at times.

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  5. Hmm.. We can make friends everywhere :)
    But sometimes, it's better to have a small circle of friends to reach out to than know a lot of people we can never really comfortable with.

    Hope you get better. I've never experienced winter, but in books and stories, it seems wonderful, but really from stories of people I know who had experienced them, really sounds like they need a tons of warm hugs!

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    1. Thank you for visiting, yccos. I hope to be better na by next week. Mahirap kasi nga shingles ang daming complications.

      Yes, winter is lovely, but after three months, I miss the warmth of the sun.

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  6. I'm sorry you aren't feeling well and I hope you are feeling better soon. I am thinking very much about getting a vaccine against shingles. Seems the pharmacies here are really "pushing" the vaccine especially for those over the age of 50. Lately it seems I know more and more people who get shingles and so I don't want to go through it myself.

    As for making friends when you're older, I don't think it is harder. One does have to make a bit of an effort but I think what is harder is where to meet new people especially if you live a solitary type of life. One needs to go to events, join clubs, attend community activites etc. in order to make new friends when one doesn't have a regular job.

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