Making Friends With the World

When you’re dealing with an eating disorder, you may feel very isolated and separate from the rest of the human race. Relationships can be difficult, and healing some of your patterns may be a central theme in your recovery.

Here’s a different slant on working on your relationships: How can you be more social and friendly when you’re out and about in the world?

Set this as your intention in the morning, and think about the opportunities you may have ahead of you. For example, if you tend to walk by yourself over the lunch hour, ask someone to come along. If you usually keep to yourself, make eye contact with the people you pass, or even say, “Hi!” Practice saying, “Yes,” when someone invites you to do something social.

If you have a serious social phobia or agoraphobia, you can get help for that. If, like many of us, you’re simply feeling hesitant and unsure of how other people will respond to you, start small. I predict that once you’re being friendlier, you’ll get on a roll.

Be a good friend to the world by being an attentive listener – whether it’s two minutes to ask the cashier at the grocery store how her day is going, or half an hour to hear out a co-worker who’s having a hard time with something.

Strive to be an upbeat influence on the conversations you have. Avoid gossiping or talking about other people. Change the subject if a conversation is focused on something negative.

When you make friends with the world, you create positive feelings that ripple forward and come right back to you. You’ll attract more love, friendliness and support from other people, and you’ll boost your self-esteem with the knowledge that you’ve made someone else’s day a little brighter.