I'm 36 years old and I have barely any friends. I had friends back when I used to drink and smoke weed but I quit all that. I wouldn't even call those people real friends anyways.
I'm not socially awkward at all. I'm quite the opposite. I know how to be very social and I'm genuinely a good person to people. I'm not always ready for social gatherings when it's with my wife's friends, mostly because I don't feel I fit in, but I still do well.
I'm here because I feel like there's something I'm lacking. I'm never someone that people seek friendship with. I see people in everyday life that have tons of friends and also make friends very easily. People that show up to a party and everyone is so excited to see them.
I always feel like I'm the person who puts in effort to get to know people. I'm always the one reaching out. I'm usually the one that starts a conversation with a stranger.
I always tell my wife that I dont have the energy or time to make new friends at my age. I dont see myself having new meaningful friendships. On one hand, I'm content because I come from a big family, but on the other hand, I feel like a loner because no one outside of my wife and family care about getting to know me and understand me.
Can anyone relate? Am I just too different from the rest of society? Or am I just too old to make friends? Are people already content with their circles and don't care to make new friends? Or do people only care about networking at this age?