As we get older, free time becomes more scarce. Gone are the days of the random meet up while being out-and-about, as we simply don’t have much out-and-about time, period. We see close friends every month or two, and friends in other cities 1-2 times a year. Staying in touch with friends becomes a choice. We can feel time flying and if we’re not paying attention, years will go by without seeing or even speaking to people we consider good friends. In the old days, that’s just what happened. But these days, we have options!

Calling friends is a dying art. I think people feel uncomfortable ‘just calling someone’ – we haven’t talked in 6 months, won’t that be weird? What if they’re busy! It’s easy to find reasons to NOT call someone.

I’m here to fully endorse the unprovoked call. Just call someone. Maybe it’s Saturday afternoon and you’re sitting at home bored. Maybe you’re driving down the shore. It doesn’t matter. Most people are happily surprised when they receive a call from a friend and the first line is “We’re just calling to check in, say hi, it’s been a while! How you doing?!.” And even more notably, people usually have time to talk! Last weekend we called www.splittingtens.com power-reader P$ and his wife on the way to a wedding. 55 minutes later the call ended. What a great catch up it was.

Give it a whirl. Call a friend. What’s the worst than could happen?