Friendships In Your 20s Vs. Your 30s. What Are The Differences?
Friendships in your 20s vs. your 30s!
You know, I’m sure back in the day, there would have been a big contrast between having friends in your 20s vs. your 30s. Back then you would have probably gotten married in your 20s and have kids. And that would have had profound effects on your friendships.
But these days, it can feel like your 30s is an extended young adult life now. Because it’s more normal to wait to have kids or get married, we are finding that our 30s is similar to our 20s now.
When it comes to having friends, you’ve certainly have had some throughout your 20s and your 30s. But have you noticed any differences between them? I certainly have. I feel like while some things are definitely different, there are some factors that stay the same.
What are the similarities and differences when having friends in your 20s vs. your 30s? That’s what I wanted to talk about today.
In this post, I’ll go over the things you should know about friendships in your 20 vs. your 30s. Some of the things do stay the same, meanwhile a lot of things do change! Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences.
Alrighty, let’s get started.
Way less time.
The biggest difference between having friends in your 30s is that you certainly have less time for them! In your 20s, as long as you didn’t have class or an exam the next day, you’d probably be down for hanging out with them without any notice. It was easy to hangout with friends back then.
But in your 30s and beyond, oh boy is it so difficult! Not only are you focused on your career and perhaps your family, you just don’t have as much free time to see your friends. I’m finding that I need to schedule and really plan ahead in order to see my friends. This is especially true if you work a full-time job; your spare time is incredibly limited.
Other than being jobless or not having anything else to do, you probably will experience this in your 30s. I do miss the old days of spontaneously hanging out with friends on short notice, and not feeling it the next day. But that’s life in your 30s, you have less time for your friends. On the plus side though, you end up being more efficient with your time and not wasting any as much like in your 20s. Because if they did waste your time, you wouldn’t put up with it now in your 30s.
Which leads me to my next point…
More maturity and less BS.
This is probably the best part about friendships in your 30s; there is more maturity and less bullshit to go around. You have had many life experiences in your 20s that have shaped you and made you more mature and assertive. Your friends may have put you through some annoying moments when you were younger.
But now that you’ve been through those experiences, you know that you don’t need to tolerate that anymore. Because you’re so probably busy with other things in life, you just simply don’t have time for petty things. And in a sense, your friends know that you have boundaries to be respected. Hence, they will respect you and treat you better than in your 20s. That’s been my experience at least.
Your friendships in your 20s may have been filled a lot of drama and BS. But in your 30s, if you have had experiences, then you will have less or even none of that. And that is truly a nice thing to have!
Alright, those are some of the differences of friendships in 20s vs. 30s. Let’s talk about the similarities…
Bounded together by the same interests.
As mentioned previously, some things change and some things stay the same. And with my experience having friends in both decades, I find that that our commonalities and interests is what keeps us together as friends. Whether it’s video games or sports, no matter how old we are, we will still cherish the hobbies that brought us together.
That’s why I think it’s important to never give up your hobbies, no matter your age. It’s what makes you happy, excited and unique. And it’s what you and your friends enjoy together. For example, with video games, my friends and I not only reminisce about the old video games we used to play in our 20s. But we also enjoy the new and current video games we play together today. So in that sense, our friendship has stayed the same because we love the same hobbies.
Same principles how you treat your friends.
No matter how old you are, the same reasons that your friends liked and respected you in your 20s will be the same in your 30s. I would say that there are not many changes when it comes to making new friends (click here to read how) and maintaining friendships (click here to read how). The basics of friendships haven’t changed since you were younger, and they definitely won’t change as you get older (even beyond your 30s).
Basically, the same rules apply. Just like you did in your 20s, you want to do things such as be giving to the friendship, be a good listener and learn how to be socially calibrated. What worked back then will certainly work now in your 30s. On the flip side, the stuff that would turn off potential friends (e.g. trying to take too much from the friendship, being untrustworthy) will be the same in your 30s.
Conclusion
I hope you found this post informative. As you can see, friendships can be quite different in your 30s compared to how they were in your 20s. But some things do stay the same, such as treating your friends good and the hobbies you’re interested in. Either way, keep doing what you can and cherish those friendships you have!
If you have any questions or feedback, leave them in the comments below!
