From “Embracing Your Second Calling: Find Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life” by Dale Hanson Bourke
If prayer is the bedrock of the second half of life, then friends are the rich soil that gives form, substance, and richness to our calling. Friends, in my experience, are different in this time of life. Friendships are truer, deeper, and more involved while being, ironically, less complicated. In my second half of life, I am more inclined to value a friend for who she is and not overthink the implications of our relationship. Any jealousy that once tainted friendships of my youth has long gone away. I can now honestly admire another woman’s ability to do something better than me without a twinge of longing.
Many of the friendships in the first half of my life were almost a matter of proximity or circumstance. After leaving college, I became friends with neighbors, coworkers, and mothers of my children’s playmates. Some of these friendships endured beyond the circumstances; many did not.
Some of the relationships were forged out of common frustrations or shared goals that changed with the situation.